


champagne problems

by anothermikaelson



Category: The Originals (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, F/M, Fluff (I hope), Kolvina, fake dating au, kol mikaelson has the cutest accent wth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28561902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anothermikaelson/pseuds/anothermikaelson
Summary: It all begins with a coffee spill and quite a few "just so happens".Kol doesn't know how his sister Rebekah just so happens to be in town visiting the exact day Davina just so happens to be cooking brunch because she and Kol just so happen to be spending the day together. On top of that, Davina's things are everywhere because her best friend Cami just so happens to be back in Chicago for a month with her parents and the power just so happens to be out at Davina and Cami's apartment, leaving her with no choice but to go crash at Kol's (rather large) New York apartment.Well, the outage, and the fact that Davina hates to be alone at home, and her other best friend Josh just so happens to be on vacation with his boyfriend, Aiden in California.It most certainly doesn't help that Rebekah's now fully convinced that Davina is the one for Kol.Though both Davina and Kol would secretly agree.--aka the kolvina fake dating au i decided to try out after reading one by xoxoHoran.<>
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson, Davina Claire/Kol Mikaelson, Hayley Marshall/Elijah Mikaelson, Keelin Malraux/Freya Mikaelson, Marcel Gerard/Rebekah Mikaelson
Comments: 17
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [something great](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24521833) by [xoxoHoran](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xoxoHoran/pseuds/xoxoHoran). 



It all begins with a coffee spill and quite a few "just so happens." 

Kol doesn't know how his sister Rebekah _just so happens_ to be in town visiting the exact day Davina _just so happens_ to be cooking brunch because she and Kol _just so happen_ to be spending the day together. On top of that, Davina's things are everywhere because her best friend Cami _just so happens_ to be back in Chicago for a month with her parents and the power _just so happens_ to be out at Davina and Cami's apartment, leaving her with no choice but to go crash at Kol's (rather large) New York apartment.

Well, the outage, and the fact that Davina hates to be alone at home, and her other best friend Josh _just so happens_ to be on vacation with his boyfriend, Aiden in California.

It most certainly doesn't help that Rebekah's now fully convinced that Davina is _the one_ for Kol. 

Though both Davina and Kol would secretly agree. 

* * *

**2016.**

Kol wakes up to the sizzling of something on a pan. Quickly heading out into the kitchen, he sees Davina cooking at the stove. "I didn't know you could cook." He walks to the coffee maker, and pours a cup for himself, leaning on the counter to watch her cook. 

Davina smiles, her eyes still trained on the pan, a black spatula in her hand. "Well, you always insist on getting takeout or going out to eat." She lightly prods the hash browns on the pan, turning around to face him. "And besides, you never asked. Can you get me two plates?"

"Of course, love." Kol takes out two big white plates from the cabinet, and places them on the counter next to her. "So what are you cooking for us today, Davina?" 

"Brunch. Pancakes, fruit, hash browns, and eggs." She puts the hash browns onto the plates, and pulls out a bowl of batter. "Do you want bacon or sausages?" Davina ladles some batter onto the pan, and looks up at Kol. 

He pours some milk into his cup of coffee, and tilts his head to the side. "Bacon, please. Do you need any help, Davina?" 

"Uh, yeah, can you whisk some eggs, please? Maybe four. I already cut some fruit, so..." She vaguely points to the fridge, and flips the pancake on the pan. 

Kol smiles, putting down his cup on the kitchen island behind Davina. "Okay." He pulls out four eggs and cracks them into a bowl, whisking them as Davina places a pancake on a plate, and pours some batter on the pan again. "So, is there any reason for this rather private meal together, darling?" 

Davina feels her cheeks heat up at the nickname. "I don't have any plans today, and last I checked, neither do you." She flips the pancake, and turns around, smiling. "So I thought we could hang out today." 

"Alright. Here are the eggs. I'll go clear the table, then." Kol smiles and cleans up the island, though there isn't much to clean, as Davina is pretty organized. He decides to go wash the dishes, running the water along the few spoons and bowls Davina used to prepare for the food. 

Davina walks over to the placemats on the kitchen island, placing the two plates of food down. "Food's ready." 

Kol smiles, and sits kind of across her, perpendicular to her. "Thank you for making this, love." 

"You're welcome. Can you pass a napkin?" Nodding, Kol hands her a napkin, and Davina reaches for it, accidentally spilling coffee on Kol in the process. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" She quickly presses her napkin to the coffee stain on the side of Kol's shirt, but he holds his hand up. 

"It's okay, Davina. I'll go try to wash it out. Be right back." He stands up and heads down the hall. 

Sighing, Davina turns to her food, and picks at her eggs, poking them with her fork. The doorbell rings suddenly, and Davina calls for her temporary housemate. "Kol! Door!" 

"Can you answer it, love?" He yells back over the sound of running water. 

Groaning, Davina heads to the door, opening it. She looks up at the blonde in front of her, who looks very strangely familiar. "Hi, can I help you?" 

"I'm looking for Kol, is he here?" The blonde answers, her accent suddenly helping Davina remember who she is. 

"Oh, you're Rebekah Mikaelson!" Davina smiles at the famous model, who's just started her own fashion line. "Kol's sister, right? Come in." 

Rebekah smiles, and steps inside the apartment. "Yes, I am. Now where is-" 

"Do you know where the stain remover is, darling--Bekah?" Kol walks out, noticeably shirtless. "What are you doing here?" 

Rebekah's eyes widen, looking from her brother to the brunette, and sees the plates of food on the dining table, as well as the many feminine items littered around the house. "I just thought I'd stop by for a visit, since I'm here for a photoshoot. Sorry if I'm intruding or anything, but I wanted to see you. I haven't seen you in almost a year, Kol." 

"I know, Bex, but you could've called. Or texted." 

The blonde smiles. "I wanted to surprise you. But since you're on a date, I could see you tomorrow. You and your girlfriend..." She turns to the brunette. 

"Davina." She opens her mouth to say something else, but Rebekah continues. 

"I'll see you two tomorrow at lunch. Kol, I'll text you this time, the time and address. And Davina, it was nice to meet you." Rebekah turns to the door. "Oh, and put on a shirt, little brother." She leaves, and Davina turns to Kol, who leaves to go get a shirt. 

"What the hell was that? Did she say I was your girlfriend?" 

Kol emerges, wearing a regular white t-shirt. "I guess she did."

"And she wants to see us tomorrow? As a couple?" Davina asks, sitting back down next to Kol, who's eating. 

"I suppose so." 

Davina sighs. "What are we going to do?" 

Kol turns to her. "Maybe you could pretend? For me? Well, for us." 

"What would I get out of this?" Davina asks, taking a sip of her coffee. 

"Well, if you haven't noticed, my family's loaded." 

"You think I want money?" Davina laughs. "I'll do it, but just because we're friends, okay? And I also love Rebekah already." 

Kol grins. "Don't worry, love. This will only be a one time thing." 

**2019.**

"One time thing my ass," Davina says, smirking as she zips up her second and last suitcase. "And now here we are, carrying out a fake four-year long relationship." 

Kol laughs. "You're blaming me? Darling, you were the one who became best friends with my sister and decided it best to continue this charade." 

"Yes, but you were the one who insisted on letting me take your room while you took the couch that month I stayed over, and when Rebekah saw my things in your room she knew it was serious and told everyone in your family." 

"And now you're going to meet them for the first time, love." He pats her head, and she blushes. "Get ready for a wild ride." 


	2. Chapter 2

Something tickles Kol's face, waking him up. He opens his eyes, and realizes the thing tickling him was Davina's hair. She's asleep on his shoulder, the TV still on from the _Harry Potter_ marathon they had last night (he fell asleep around _Goblet of Fire_ , and he's almost positive Davina's going to riot about that once she wakes up). 

Kol brushes Davina's hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. He then becomes very aware of his heart threatening to pound out of its chest, and how long Davina's eyelashes really are. He slowly runs a finger along her cheekbone, feeling the smoothness of her skin against the roughness of his knuckles. 

"What are you doing?" Davina opens an eye, and Kol swears she's smirking. 

"Nothing, love. You had something on your face." He pulls his hand back, and Davina lifts her head off his shoulder. "The real question is, what are you doing here? I didn't know you were spending the night."

"Well, it was late, and I don't want to head back home to see Cami with some guy again." She shudders, earning a little chuckle from Kol, who decides to change the subject.

"So, we have a flight to New Orleans at 3. That gives us..." He looks at the clock. "Two hours to ourselves." 

Davina sits up. "Two hours? We don't have to be at the airport at 1:30, Kol." She yawns, stretching her arms. "I'm making coffee." Kol doesn't bother to acknowledge the fact that it's almost noon. Late morning sunlight streams through the windows into the room, illuminating Davina's face as she stands up and heads to the kitchen. 

"We're driving there, and that will probably take half an hour with traffic. And not to mention the fact that you eat so bloody slow." Kol smirks, walking over to the kitchen after turning off the TV. "Are we getting food before or at the airport, love?" 

Turning around, his "'girlfriend" quickly runs her fingers through her slightly messy hair. "That's fair. I was thinking we could eat at the airport, since I want to go get some gifts for Hope." 

At that, Kol smiles. Upon meeting his niece for the first time, Davina practically became Hope's favorite person, and now the brunette always spends so much time buying things for the little girl. "Okay, then. We can go to the mall to shop, and eat. Then we'll go to New Orleans." 

Davina nods. "Okay, then. I'll go change and brush up real quick. Be right back." She heads down the hall, and comes back a few minutes later in a pair of blue jeans ripped at the knees and a loose-fitting grey scoop neck t-shirt. Her hair falls down her back in waves, and she's wearing a gold necklace, two bracelets, and at least four rings. "Is the coffee ready?" 

Kol tears his eyes from her, and looks at the coffee maker. "Yes, darling. I'll get a cup for you." He pulls out two cups and fills them both with the brown liquid, passing one to her. "So you're all packed?" 

"Yeah, I think. I'll do my makeup in the car." Davina puts her empty cup in the sink, washing it and placing it on the drying rack. "How about you? Did you pack your deodorant this time?" 

"It was one time!" Kol washes his empty cup as well. "And yes, I did." 

Davina laughs. "Alright, I think we should head out now. You should go change. I'll go clean up here." She heads to go pack her small backpack that she insists to take everywhere, and Kol heads to his room to go put on something decent to see his favorite side of the family. 

When he comes back out, Davina is already at the door with her two suitcases, putting on her ankle boots on. Standing at just barely 5'3, she'll do whatever it takes to make herself look taller. 

Of course, it doesn't help much that Kol is six feet tall. "Are you ready, love?" 

Davina looks up, smiling at him. She's always loved the way he called her that. Only her. "Yeah. I brought your suitcase out, too." 

"Alright, let's head to the car." Kol takes both his and her suitcases out the door, and locks it behind him, while Davina throws on a faux leather jacket. The two of them head to the parking garage in the back of the building, and load up Kol's car. "Shouldn't you tell Cami you're leaving? You'll be away for a week, after all. She should know she has the whole place to herself." He winks, and Davina shoves him playfully. 

"That's gross, Kol. But yeah, I should call her." She gets into the passenger seat of the car, and takes her phone out to FaceTime her best friend. 

"Davina! Hi! Where were you last night?" Cami calls, her makeup-free face beaming at her from the couch back at her and Davina's apartment. 

"At my place," Kol interjects, leaning over to get in the camera. "Hi, Cami."

Davina pushes Kol's head back so he's sitting up straight. "Ignore him. But yeah, I spent the night. We were having a movie marathon." 

"Oh, okay! You guys heading out?" 

"Yeah, we're going to the mall to pick up some things, then we're flying out to New Orleans to meet up with Hayley, Elijah, Hope, Klaus, Caroline, and Lizzie. Then we're going to London tomorrow." Davina smiles. "So I'll see you next week!" 

Cami nods. "Okay. Have fun! And Kol?" 

Kol perks up at the mention of his name, and leans over to the phone. "Yes?" 

"Don't knock her up." Cami smirks, and Davina groans. 

"Bye, Cami!" She ends the call just as Cami opens her mouth to say something. "Well, that went well. Josh texted this morning already. He said to have a good trip." 

Kol starts the car. "Okay. Let's go, then." He starts the car, and pulls out of the parking space, as Davina pulls out her small makeup bag. "So, about my family..." 

"I can't believe you made me memorize all this information," Davina says, putting on a gold earring in the shape of a line. "So, there's Freya, the oldest, who your aunt Dahlia raised for some reason. She and her wife Keelin have a son named Nik. Then there's Finn, who is married to Sage, and they have two kids. From what you've told me, they seem fun." She intentionally throws in some sarcasm. 

"They're not that bad, I just don't interact with them much." Kol presses the brake, turning to Davina. "Then there's Elijah." 

Davina puts on her other earring, and pulls out her mascara. "Elijah, who's dating Hayley Marshall, who has a daughter named Hope with your half-brother Niklaus, or as we call him, Klaus. I don't want to hear the details of how that happened, but anyway, Klaus is married to Caroline Forbes, and they have a daughter named Lizzie, and they live in Mystic Falls, Virginia. Apparently Klaus crashed Caroline's wedding to a man named Stefan Salvatore, and Caroline ran off with him instead." She finishes her eye makeup, and takes out her lipstick. 

"Next in line is Rebekah Mikaelson, who just married Marcel Gerard, her childhood sweetheart, and my ex-stepbrother, and how I didn't know they had a thing, I don't know. Then there's you, who's dating Davina Claire, otherwise known as me." Davina smiles at that, and dabs a little bit of brown-red lipstick onto her lips, before closing the tube and putting it back in her mini backpack. "You had a brother named Henrik too, who died in a car accident five years ago. We don't talk about him, though." 

Kol smiles. "Nicely done. We've been dating for almost four years, and we met when you literally ran into me in the hallway at Columbia."

"You helped me up, and I found out you and my friend Josh were in the same psych class, so we ended up spending a lot of time together. Then you asked me out and now, voila. We're madly in love and whatever." 

"That shouldn't be too hard to remember, seeing as 98% of that story is true." Davina laughs, remembering how she actually did in fact walk right into Kol while walking backwards to wave to Josh before heading into her classroom. 

"Oh my God, all those girls who wanted to date you hated me after that." As annoying as it is to admit, Davina does think Kol is handsome. And he's pretty hot, though she'd never say that out loud. 

Kol pulls into mall, parking at the first available spot. "Well, I am rather good-looking, love." He turns to her just in time to see her roll her eyes. "Hey, you admitted it once yourself, remember?" 

He gets out of the car, and opens the door for his fake girlfriend, letting her step out. "It was during a drinking game Cami set up, remember? And I had way too much champagne." 

"Yes, and whose fault is that?" Kol asks, locking the car and walking with her inside the building. 

"Yours, for bringing that champagne!" Davina's eyes seem to light up then, the same way they do when she's passionate about something. There are a lot of the little things Kol notices during their time together as a fake couple, like the way Davina will put on her left earring before her right, but puts on mascara on her right eye before her left. 

"Alright, where shall we head first?" Watching as Davina scans every store in the mall, Kol gets ready for a long hour. 

Davina smiles. "I was thinking of getting some new art supplies for Hope. And maybe a little stuffed animal for Lizzie? Care told me she likes giraffes." 

"Who doesn't?" Kol says. "So, second floor?" 

* * *

Kol collapses onto his seat next to Davina in their booth at The Cheesecake Factory. He orders two sodas, sending the server on his way before he can give Davina some cheesy pickup line or ask for her number, saving her from the awkwardness. "You're tired? We've only been out for an hour!" Davina exclaims, the left side of her lip tugging upwards in amusement. 

"In case you haven't noticed, love, we bought a lot more than just art supplies and a stuffed animal." He gestures to the two bags of clothes Davina ended up buying as well, for both girls and herself. 

Davina blushes, and finds herself staring at Kol for a little too long. "I thought they'd like it! You know I always get carried away." She pulls out the menu, scanning it quickly. 

"And in an attempt to buy the perfect gifts, you've cost us some time, and now we have less time to eat before flying, Davina." Kol sits back up, smiling. 

They sit in silence for almost a minute when their server comes, a girl around Davina's age. "Hi, I'm Amber. I took over Austin's shift. Here are your drinks. Ready to order?" She smiles, keeping her eyes trained on Kol. 

Davina groans inwardly, though it definitely isn't the first time. The girls at the table across from them are clearly both trying to get Kol's attention and glaring at Davina. Luckily, Kol saves the day with ease. "I'll have the fish and chips, with a side of fries, please." He hands his menu to Amber, and turns to Davina. "Love?" 

"Hm?" Davina looks up too, feigning innocence, enjoying the extra benefits of fake dating. "Oh, I'll have the soup and salad combo." She decides to play it further. "Do you want to share a soup, babe? 'Cause if you do, we'll have to order a bigger bowl." 

Kol smiles, and passes Davina's menu to Amber. "Can you make it fast? We're in a rush to get to the airport. Thank you." 

Amber turns to put the orders in, and Davina lets out a long sigh. "Thank God. I was actually about to rip her hair out." 

Kol laughs. "Well, we have done this before, haven't we, love?" 

"That's true." Davina ignores the straw next to her cup of Dr. Pepper, and goes straight for the cup, bringing it to her lips. "At least you've gotten used to that nickname I've given you." 

"You rarely use it, though." He takes a sip of his Pepsi, and places the cup back down. "It's a good thing you reserved seats ahead of time," Kol says, looking at the crowd waiting to get in for lunch. 

Davina smiles. "You're welcome. You're going to have to help me out with the soup, since I want airport food too." She relishes in the way Kol's face contorts at that. 

"That's kind of revolting, considering that most airport foods are Panda Express and McDonalds." 

"Not all of us come from a rich family. And besides, I like McDonalds, and you know that."

Kol looks thoughtful. "I do. Now, eat fast." Amber returns with their food quickly, like asked, and places them down on the table. 

"Enjoy." She quickly heads off to the next table, and Davina digs into her salad almost immediately. 

"I haven't seen you eat a salad in ages, darling." 

Davina throws a piece of lettuce at him. "Well, knowing your family, I'll be eating fancy foods for the next week, and I want to at least stay _healthy_. I've thrown in a few granola bars into your suitcase I expect you to finish, too." 

"I'd like to have you know that I work out intensely. I have a six-pack, you know." 

"Not with those food selections, you don't." Davina smirks and continues eating. They eat in silence, only talking every few minutes, before they reach the soup. "Alright, hurry up and finish the soup." 

Kol gapes. "I thought we were sharing!" 

Davina smiles at the childish way he behaves occasionally. "I'll take a few spoonfuls." She drinks a little, before handing the bowl to him. "That's yours, now. I'll go order a cheesecake." 

"A cheesecake?" Kol asks. 

"Yeah, finish up." She calls Amber over, and orders a slice of blueberry cheesecake to-go, as Kol pays the check. "You done?" 

Kol looks up from his empty bowl of soup. "Yes. Once she gets back, we'll get the bloody cake and go." 

"You know, the Kol I met five years ago was the most unorganized person in the world. What happened to you?" Davina teases. 

"I met you, love." He winks at her, causing her to flush before Amber returns with the cake and Kol's card. "Thank you. Alright, darling, we have to go, before Bex calls and asks if we're at the airport yet and we're not." Kol picks up his card, and takes Davina's shopping bags, while she gets the cheesecake. 

They both stand up and head out, Davina taking Kol's arm (half for show, the other half just because why not). Kol unlocks the car, and puts the bags into the backseat, as Davina keeps the cake on her lap.

"To the airport now," Kol says, taking out his phone for Google Maps. "Oh, we'll make it right on time with security and _McDonald's_." 

Davina rolls her eyes, but laughs. "Okay, then. Twenty minutes. That's plenty of time." 

"For what?" Kol asks, pulling the car out and exiting the mall. 

"This." Davina takes out something from the glove compartment, and leans forward to put her hands on the dashboard. She then opens a bottle, and fumes come out. 

"You're painting your nails _in the car_?!" Kol exclaims, incredulous. "God, open a window, it smells." 

Laughing, Davina opens her window a crack, and continues to paint her nails a nude-brown color, letting them dry for a few minutes before putting on a matte top coat. As she waves her hands around so her nails will dry faster, she starts a conversation. 

"So you haven't seen your siblings in how long again?" 

Kol smiles, turning his blinker on to turn right into the airport. "I haven't seen Klaus or Caroline or Lizzie in nine months, actually. And as for Hayley and Elijah and Hope, a year. Last I saw Bex was a few months ago when she stopped by to see you to ask if you wanted to model for a magazine--" 

"Which I did, and it was amazing," Davina cuts in, remembering the time she and Rebekah modeled for Ralph Lauren. She wore a red dress that had a low cut, though it was a loose cut, and gold heels. Rebekah wore a similar dress, though it definitely showed more, and black heels. She still remembers how Kol was utterly speechless when he saw her in the dress, too. 

And another plus side was that she now had a small part time job as a model, as well. Mostly it was with Rebekah when she dropped by (she'd intentionally not see Kol so she'd have private time to talk about him with Davina), but a few times she went just with Cami, or Kol. 

"Yes, I remember your euphoria over it, love." Kol laughs, and pulls into the overnight airport parking, paying the man at the booth for a week. They pass through, and park in a spot close to the airport entrance. He gets out to open the door for Davina, holding it open as she stretches and gets out. 

"You don't have to do that, you know." Kol closes the door, and opens the trunk, while Davina gets the bags from the backseat. 

"Oh, but I have to, girlfriend. If I didn't, all my siblings would lock me in a coffin." 

Davina laughs, and reaches for her suitcase. "Don't be so dramatic." Kol takes out his suitcase, and closes the trunk, locking the car. "Let's go." 

They enter the airport, checking in Kol's oversize suitcase ("Why the hell do you need such a huge suitcase?" Davina asked, when they first started packing. She found out later, though, that he needed it so that she could throw some of her extra things in there. He knows her too well), and Davina's bigger suitcase. 

Then they head to security, waiting in the not-too-long line, since daytime flights are a lot more expensive. Half an hour later, they're crossing through the metal detectors, and the security guard is checking their bags. 

"Alright, love, our flight is taking off in an hour now," Kol says, as he picks up Davina's smaller suitcase, and the bags of gifts. 

"I told you we'd be fine this early. So when do we board?" Davina asks, putting her backpack back on. 

Kol looks at the directory to find their gate, and steers her in the direction of their flight. "Probably in fifteen minutes. Bex made sure we'd be sitting first class." 

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" They enter McDonald's, which has a Starbucks next to it, much to Davina and Kol's relief. 

"Bekah knew you'd say something about it and insist on just riding normal seats. She knows you very well, darling." Kol smiles, the smile Davina sometimes wishes she could just kiss off his face. 

However, she just finger combs her hair. "She does, doesn't she? Anyway, what do you want to eat?" 

Kol realizes with a jolt that they're already at the cashier. "I'll just have an Oreo McFlurry." 

Davina holds back a laugh, realizing how stupid that word sounds, and orders large fries. Kol pays, and they get their food almost immediately. "Here." She hands him a few fries, and he takes it, dipping them in the ice cream. "That's disgusting, Kol." 

"You sound like Bekah. But I'd like to have you know, love, that Hope agrees that this is the best way to eat fries."

"Whatever." Davina steps in line for Starbucks, and they talk about their trip in the line, before she orders a grande mocha cappuccino (she has no regrets), and Kol orders a flat white. They both get their drinks soon as well, and head to their gate, eating their slightly melting cheesecake as they wait to board. 

"First class and special boarding, first call," the flight attendant calls, and practically everyone waiting for the flight watches as Davina and Kol stand up to board. Davina awkwardly follows her fake boyfriend to the gate, trying to ignore the stares from the people waiting. "Alright, just go all the way down." 

Smiling at the flight attendant, Kol takes Davina's hand, taking her in the plane, and walking all the way down to first class seating, and realizes that they're the only ones there. They settle in a little cubicle room in the front, and Davina leans down onto the little couch, while Kol puts her suitcase up, and sits across from her. "Well, looks like we'll be here for three hours," he says as he settles in. 

A flight attendant, Kati, comes to get orders, and Kol simply orders for vodka. He then sits next to Davina, putting an arm around her. "Practicing already?" Davina teases. 

"Three hours to practice, darling. So, shall we watch a movie?" Davina smiles, and they settle on watching _To All the Boys I've Loved Before_ , drinking while practicing their act, though it isn't too hard for Kol to act like he's in love with Davina, and the same goes vice versa. 

An hour into the flight, Davina yawns. "We chose this movie for better experience on fake dating, right?" 

"That, and you have an infatuation with this movie." Davina blushes, acknowledging that truth. 

The credits begin rolling soon, and Kol looks down at his "girlfriend", who's begun to drift off. He lets her sleep on his shoulder, and chooses another movie to watch while she continues to sleep. He makes sure to turn the volume down, too. 

* * *

"Love, we're here," Kol calls, waking Davina, who smiles and stretches. "Welcome to New Orleans, home of alligators, gumbo, and half my siblings." 

"Half your siblings lived here?" Davina asks, not knowing this information. 

Kol smiles. "Yes. Klaus, Rebekah, and Elijah lived here for a decade. Hayley was born here, too, actually, though she was adopted at a young age. She happened to be in Mystic Falls when Klaus went there to look for a friend, and you know what happened. Then Hayley came back to New Orleans to learn more about her heritage, and ran into Klaus, revealing that she was pregnant. Then Klaus let Hayley stay with him for a while, because he wanted to raise the child as well. Of course, Hayley met Elijah, and then Rebekah started traveling for her modeling. Klaus went back to Mystic Falls upon deciding to go for Caroline, and he ended up staying there." 

Davina takes a sip of her vodka. "Wow. Your family's so interesting." 

"I know." The plane lands, and they get off, heading into the airport. 

They've just stepped into baggage claim when Hope runs over, engulfing both of them in a hug. "Davina! Uncle Kol!" 

Davina smiles. "Hey there, Hope." 

"Little nerd," Kol says, ruffling Hope's hair, as Hayley and Elijah come over, with Caroline, Klaus, and a sleeping Lizzie. "Davina went shopping and bought you something." 

Hope grins widely, and Davina hands her the bag of art supplies and clothes (she had to rearrange many things on the plane). "It took me forever to find these." 

"Thanks, Davina!" Hope looks inside, showing Hayley everything. 

"Hey, Kol, Davina." Hayley hugs them both. "Hope driving you guys crazy already? She couldn't sleep last night, so I may have slipped her some coffee." 

Davina laughs, and looks up at Kol. "Well, Kol kept me up last night, too. We were having a movie marathon, and didn't wake up until eleven thirty. Right?" 

Kol wraps an arm around Davina, planting a kiss on her head. "Sorry, love." 

"Are those your bags?" Klaus asks, as the first few suitcases begin coming onto the conveyor belt. 

Kol nods. "I'll go get them, darling," he says to Davina, and heads to snag the two suitcases, as Davina hands Caroline a bag. 

"So I may have gone on an over-the-top shopping spree and bought a lot of gifts for Lizzie." 

Caroline smiles. "Aw, thanks! She'll love these, Davina. Thanks." 

Kol returns with the suitcases, bringing them over. "Well, are we heading back home now? Or are we getting food?" 

"You only care about food," Davina says, playfully shoving Kol. 

Elijah smiles, as he puts a hand on Hayley's shoulder. "I reserved seats ahead of time at a restaurant." 

* * *

After dinner, they all go exploring for a while, and head to Elijah and Hayley's place, where Klaus and Rebekah used to live. "Brother, you and Davina can share Rebekah's room," Elijah says. "It's down the hall to the left." 

"Yeah, it's getting late, actually. And Hope, you need to get to sleep," Hayley says, looking down at her daughter, who's begun to yawn, and takes her to her room. 

"Goodnight!" Hope calls, as she whisked to bed. 

Klaus smiles. "Lizzie, darling, you should head to bed as well." He leads her down to Hope's room, where the two girls will sleep for the night.

"Well, I think I should go to sleep too. 'Night, everyone." Caroline smiles and heads to her and Klaus's room. 

"Okay, then. Let's go to Bex's," Kol says, heading over into the huge room, and dropping off their things. Davina sits on the bed. 

"This is Rebekah's room? It's huge!" 

Kol laughs. "Hope's room pretty large, as well." He looks up at Davina. "Why don't you go shower, love? I'll clean up and bring in some water. There should be some towels in the bathroom you can use." 

Nodding, Davina heads in and takes a hot shower, stepping out and taking a fluffy towel to dry off. She changes into a pair of sweats and a comfortable t-shirt that hangs off her left shoulder, and quickly texts Cami and Josh before slipping under the covers to sleep. 

Fifteen minutes later, Kol joins her, and it's then that Davina realizes that he's shirtless. She awkwardly turns her back to him somewhat naturally, and curls up to sleep. "'Night, Kol." 

Kol smiles. "Goodnight, love. Sweet dreams." 

Davina flushes bright red again. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i listened to taylor swift for a little too long and realized how many times i've said the word "champagne" in this story, and how many more times i'll use it, and decided that i'd tweak some things to fit this perfectly. 
> 
> anyway, i hope you guys like it!!
> 
> **spoilers for The Mortal Instruments and Before I Fall in this chapter**

The sun warms Davina's face, slowly waking her up naturally. Blinking a few times, she rubs her eyes, sitting up. She turns to her fake boyfriend, who is asleep and snoring. Laughing softly, she heads to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash up, and quickly packs those items away, since they're leaving in a few hours. 

Davina heads out and down the hall, slipping her phone into her pocket on the way to the kitchen. While putting her hair in a quick messy bun, she sees Caroline standing at the counter, in a t-shirt, cardigan, and pajama pants, drinking something from a large mug. "Morning, Care." 

Caroline beams at Davina, if not slightly tired. "Morning, Davina. Do you want coffee? There's a lot." She points to a pot of coffee by the stove, and gets a large red mug out of the cabinet. "Here." She hands the brunette the mug, and Davina fills it. 

Taking a large sip, Davina looks up at her friend, who seems so much older than her at times, though she's only two years older. "So, good sleep?" 

"I wish. I get these dreams sometimes that Lizzie gets hurt or kidnapped, and those always wake me up almost instantly. This is my second cup of coffee already." Caroline sighs, but smiles. "How about you?" 

"No dreams. But I do have some dreams that I lose Kol, and those hurt the most." Davina finds herself internally cringing at her words. "Then I wake up and he's still there, so who's laughing now?" 

"Oh, you two are up already?" Hayley walks out, wearing an oversized hoodie and loose joggers. She yawns. "Did you guys sleep early?" 

Caroline shakes her head. "Nightmare woke me up half an hour ago." 

"I slept pretty much once we got here. Kol went to sleep a little later, though," Davina says, picking at some loose strands of hair. 

"Oh. What time's our flight again?" Hayley asks, filling a mug with coffee. "Eleven thirty?" 

"Yeah," Caroline says. 

"Alright. Elijah didn't come to bed until past midnight, so I think he might sleep in, though that's pretty rare." 

Davina finishes her coffee, and fills her mug with regular water. "Kol's still asleep, too." 

Hayley laughs. "I know. I walked past your room earlier, and he snores really loudly. How do you sleep at night?" 

"I don't know, I guess I got used to it." Davina thinks about it, and realizes that she did, in fact, just get used to it at some point, though they really don't share beds much. 

Caroline claps her hands once. "Well, I think I'm going to finish packing up. I'll see you in a bit. Oh, I ordered breakfast, too. The delivery person should be here in a little bit." She heads down the hall to her and Klaus's room. 

Hayley turns to Davina. "So, you and Kol." 

"What about us?" Davina asks, draining her cup.  _ Oh, we're having this talk now?  _

"How are you two? I haven't seen you guys in a year, you know." The older brunette leans against the countertop, smiling as she brings her mug to her lips. "So, have you moved in with him yet?" 

Davina's eyebrow shoots up. She and Hayley have been talking about this for a while, with Hayley telling her to move in with Kol, so they can spend more time together. Besides, Hayley's moved in with Elijah for years to take care of Hope now, too. But for now, Davina decides to just simply go along with it. "Yeah, I did, about six months ago. I found that I spend a lot more time at his place than mine, so I just moved in." 

"That's nice. How's it been?" 

"Well, pretty good, I guess. I don't have to worry about my best friend dragging some guy into our apartment anymore, for one." 

Hayley laughs. "That's one benefit. So you guys thinking about getting married?" 

Davina drops her mug, but luckily it doesn't break. "What?" 

"You guys have been together for four years. That's a long time." 

"You and Elijah have been together since Hope was born. That's a longer time," Davina shoots back. 

The older woman puts her hand on the counter. "Well, that's a different story. It would be kind of weird for Hope to be calling her uncle, her stepdad." 

"Yeah, but with all your little family drama and everything, I think that would be the least of problems." 

Hayley tilts her head to the side. "I was betrothed to a man named Jackson once. He was a family friend, and apparently his and my parents were some kind of business rivals turned allies. So we were supposed to marry and end the rivalry. Then my parents died in a plane crash, so it never happened. Then when we were eighteen, I met Jackson for the first time, and the wedding went back in plan, without my consent in the first place. 

"A few months before the wedding, I went back to Mystic Falls to follow a lead on my biological parents, and then I had a one night stand with Klaus. I went back to New Orleans, where I was living at the time, to finish up preparations when I found out I was pregnant with Hope. That totally backfired on the wedding plan, and it was cancelled, bringing the businesses back against each other. So I guess I'm scared of getting married. Because I'm scared it'll ruin something, like how my supposed marriage ruined my parents' business, which, by the way, is now officially bankrupt." 

Davina blinks. "Oh. Wow. But you should remember that marriage is a decision you make because you love someone, not because everyone else wants you to." 

"Yeah. Thanks, Davina." The doorbell rings, and Hayley stands back up. "I'll get it." She heads to the door, and comes back with two bags of takeout. "Well, looks like Caroline went all out. I'll get some plates." She gets some plates and utensils, laying them down in front of her and Davina. "So, what do you want?" 

"Uh, anything's fine." Davina gets a muffin, biting into it. 

Kol walks into the room just then. "Good morning, love." He puts his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her exposed shoulder. "You slept well?" 

"Yeah, I did. Here, you can have the rest. I'm not too hungry anyway." She hands him her muffin, while bringing her other hand up to his jaw, tracing his jawline. 

"If you're going to snog, do it somewhere else." Klaus walks in, with Lizzie and Hope. 

"Well, good morning to you, too," Hayley says, handing a muffin to both girls. "Is Elijah up yet?" 

Hope nods. "Yeah. Uncle Elijah said that he's going to finish packing." 

"And I've finished the packing," Elijah calls, walking out in his usual suit. "Morning." 

"Good morning, brother," Klaus says, taking a bite of his apple. "I assume you're all set? We don't have a lot of time before our flight." 

Caroline comes back to the kitchen. "Uh, Rebekah just checked, and the flight's been pushed up half an hour. So we have to go, like, now." 

Davina looks at Kol. "Did you finish packing your things, babe?" 

"Yes, darling. You should go change before we leave, too." Kol finishes the muffin, and dusts off his hands. "Now, is there coffee?" 

"Yeah, here." She hands him her mug, and plants a quick chaste kiss to his cheek. "I'll finish packing." 

Davina heads to their room. Heading into the bathroom, she takes some clothes with her, changing into a pair of leggings, and a tank top. Coming back out, she throws on one of Kol's old high school hoodies she's snagged from his closet. "Do you need help?" Lizzie asks, standing in the doorway with her half-sister. 

"Oh, yeah, sure. Can you see if there's anything left in the bathroom?" Davina smiles, and the six-year old goes to look in the bathroom. "Hope, do you mind seeing if there's anything under the bed?" 

The girl looks under the bed. "There's something down here!" She fishes out a shirt, and hands it to Davina. "Is that Uncle Kol's?" 

Davina turns the shirt over in her hand, folding it. "Yeah, it is. Thank you." 

Hope hops onto the bed, her legs dangling over the side. Lizzie joins her after handing Davina some of Kol's shampoo, and Davina's hairbrush. "Davina?" Lizzie asks. 

"Yeah?" Davina zips up the last suitcase, sitting on top of it. "What's up, Liz?" 

Lizzie smiles at the nickname for her nickname. "Are you in love with Uncle Kol?" 

Davina's head snaps up. "What? What makes you think that?" 

"You didn't answer the question." Hope smiles mischievously, fiddling with her hair. 

Sighing, the brunette smiles at them. "Yes, I am. I do love Kol very much. And when you guys grow up, you'll find someone you'll love very much, too. Like your mom loves your dad, Lizzie, and like your mom loves your uncle Elijah." 

"Uncle Kol said the same thing," Hope says. "We asked him earlier." 

Davina smiles. "Well, great minds think alike." She stands up. "Now, we should head back out. Can you get Kol here, please?" 

The girls hop off the bed. "Okay!" Lizzie and Hope run out, with Hope staying behind to whisper something to Davina. "You and Uncle Kol should get married." She smiles and runs off, leaving Davina flushing bright red as Kol enters not long later. 

"You look like a tomato, love." Kol laughs. "You called?" 

Davina quickly puts on a little makeup, throwing on a few bracelets and rings. "Yeah, can you take some of these out?" She gestures to the suitcases. 

Kol leans in close to Davina's face, his breath tickling her ear and his hand slowly tracing her cheekbone. "Put on an act, darling, because the girls are spying on us and they think I can't see them." 

Smiling, Davina nods, deciding to play along just for the girls' amusement. Turning around, she kisses Kol softly, and he kisses her back, his hands cupping her face. 

They don't know how long they've been there when a voice rings out. "Ahem." 

Davina and Kol break away, turning to see Elijah in the hallway, and Lizzie and Hope giggling. "Oh, sorry, brother," Kol says, quickly tucking a strand of hair behind Davina's ear. "We had a little moment." 

Elijah smiles, adjusting his cuffs. "Yes, well, we're heading to the airport now. The Ubers are here. We're all ready." 

"Right. Let's go, then." Davina smiles, and takes the smaller suitcase, as Kol follows with the other two. They walk back out, and within a matter of minutes they're all on the way to the airport. 

* * *

"Flight to London, gate 37, is boarding now. First class and special needs may board now." 

Lifting her head up from Kol's shoulder, Davina smiles at him, as she stands up with the rest of the Mikaelsons, and they all head onto the plane, selecting a certain cabin to stay in for the ten and a half hour flight. Klaus, Caroline, and Lizzie stay in one right up front, with Elijah, Hayley, and Hope staying in one next to them. Davina and Kol choose one behind Klaus and Caroline's, settling in easily. 

"Well, love, looks like we'll be here for a while. Feel free to stay up as long as possible, seeing as it'll be the middle of the night when we fly in to London." Kol sits next to Davina, who tucks her feet in next to him. "Champagne, please," he says to the flight attendant, who nods and walks off. 

Davina laughs. "You just had coffee, and now you want alcohol? I still have my frap." She holds up her venti vanilla bean frappuccino with two shots of espresso. "Please tell me you're at least sharing it with your brothers and Caroline and Hayley." 

"Of course, love. You don't think that I'd fly in to meet my parents  _ wasted _ , do you?" Kol puts an arm around her. "I know I have a reputation, but I'm different now." 

Scoffing, Davina nuzzles into her fake boyfriend's side. "Yes, you were quite the partygoer, I remember. All the girls would go to your parties and talk about how hot you were." 

Kol presses a kiss to her head, as the door is still open, and takes some of her hair in his fingers to tickle her face with it. "And yet, only one managed to steal my heart."

"And yet, girls still try to take you away from me." Davina can literally imagine how Rebekah or Cami would be reacting to their conversation. "By the way," she whispers in Kol's ear. "I told Hayley I moved in to your place." 

Kol stands up to get the champagne from the flight attendant, and sits back down next to Davina, whispering back in her ear. "You might as well, since you spend more time at my place than you do at yours." He pulls back, as the plane begins its takeoff. "I'll have one glass of this. Do you want some?" 

Davina shakes her head, watching Kol pour himself a glass. "You know I have a low tolerance. Here, give me the bottle. I'll pass it to Hayley." She takes it, and leaves the cabin, walking to the next. "Hey, Kol ordered this and I made him promise to only drink a little, do you guys want some too?"

Elijah smiles. "I'll have a bit."

"I'll have a lot, thanks." Hayley smiles. "Caroline is gonna want some for sure." 

"Got it." Davina adjusts her grip on the bottle. "Call for a few glasses. I'll go to their cabin." She closes the door and heads to Klaus and Caroline's cabin, asking them if they want some of the bubbles. 

Klaus and Caroline both nod, and Davina leaves the bottle with them, since they have the highest tolerance. She heads back to her cabin, to see Kol choosing a movie. 

"Have you ever watched  _ City of Bones _ ?" He asks her. 

Davina sits next to him. "Once, when it first came out in theaters. We can watch it, though. It's good." 

Kol grins widely. “Well, then, darling, come closer.” He turns on the movie, and puts an arm around Davina. 

As the credits roll, Kol is definitely confused. "Wait, they're siblings?" 

Davina laughs. "Read the books." She finishes her drink, and leans back. "There's a TV show, actually. We can start that if you want." 

"Please answer the question, love. I don't want to be watching a show about incest." 

"They're not, though he is kind of her adoptive brother. She does have a brother though, but he's a literal demon." 

Kol sighs. "Thank God. I was about to say something if they were. So, shall we start the show? Or something else?" 

"I don't care, you can choose." She curls up closer to his side, and he closes the window, blocking out the glare from the sun, letting him see Davina's face more clearly. 

"You have the best recommendations though." 

The brunette scoffs. "Fine. We're watching either _Divergent_ or _If I Stay_." She pauses. "Or both, seeing as we're stuck here for another seven and a half hours." 

"Alright, love. We'll watch the first one, then." Kol find the movie, and starts it. "You have amazing taste in movies. Bad taste in music, though." 

Davina blushes at that, the first thing he said to her other than his name. "Shut up." 

An hour into the movie, there's a knock. "Hey, can I stay here for a bit? Hope's asleep and Elijah's watching some old history documentary, Lizzie's also asleep, and Caroline and Klaus are watching some cheesy romance movie. And I brought food." Hayley holds up a bag of chips, and a few candy bars. 

"Yeah, of course. Move, Kol." Davina pushes Kol aside, making space for Hayley to sit. "We're just watching every YA book adaptation in history, because Kol likes trash TV and I don't tolerate that." 

Hayley laughs. "At least your boyfriend doesn't spend half his time watching history documentaries." 

"Seems like I'm not at the bottom of the spectrum after all, am I?" Kol asks, placing a hand on Davina's knee, as she throws her legs over his lap. Sometimes this fake dating seems almost _too_ natural, Davina thinks. It's almost too easy to pretend to be a couple, and sometimes it feels like they are. 

She pushes that thought out of her head. It's insane to be thinking about that, the fact that she and Kol could be more than just close friends. "You're lucky I haven't broken up with you yet." She taps his nose quickly before turning back to the screen. 

"You two are so adorable it's almost nauseating." Hayley unwraps a bag of Skittles, and pops a few into her mouth. "You make Elijah and I seem like an old married couple." 

Davina smiles. "You guys are perfect, you know. Remember that time Elijah almost broke this guy's wrist because he was hitting on you?" 

"Yeah, we had to bail him out of jail." She laughs. "I assume Kol's done worse for you, though." 

"Multiple times, actually. But there was this one time-" 

Kol clamps a hand over Davina's mouth. "We don't speak of that, love." He lets go, and Davina sighs. 

"Fine. I'm going to the bathroom." She stands up, closing the cabin door. Then she pulls out her phone and texts Hayley all the details of the time when Kol smashed a guy's head into a table in the library at Columbia, and almost got expelled. The funniest part was how he was just asking Davina about the homework for class. That guy was also gay. 

She enters back into the cabin to see Hayley laughing at her phone. "Oh, God, that's hilarious." 

Kol gapes at Davina. "You texted her?" 

Davina settles in between the two, smiling. "What? No!" She feigns ignorance, prompting Kol to begin tickling Davina, poking her in the side. "Okay, I give! Sorry! I said I'm sorry, Kol!" She jabs him in the stomach, and he lets go of her. 

"All forgiven, love." He kisses the side of her head, and puts an arm around her. 

Hayley rolls her eyes. "Yeah, I'm going back now." She stands up, taking her Skittles with her, and leaves. 

Davina turns to the boy (man?) next to her. "Alright, I think we've officially scared Hayley Marshall. We've done it, now the world can come crashing down." 

"Very funny." Kol takes apart Davina's messy bun, running his fingers through them. "I'm going to take a little nap for a while, love. Wake me up in an hour?" 

"Alright." Davina smiles, as Kol drops his head onto Davina's shoulder, falling asleep in a few minutes. She finds herself slowly falling asleep not long after selecting the next movie, with her arms around her fake boyfriend. 

**

"Hey, do you guys have any-oh." Davina's eyes snap open at Caroline's voice, and looks down at the position she's in, her arms around Kol's torso, and his hands somehow in her hair. They're lying down on the couch in their cabin, his chin resting on top of her head, and the credits of some random movie are rolling. "Sorry, is this a bad time?" 

Davina untangles herself from Kol, making sure his head rests on the seat softly. "No, sorry, what'd you need?" 

Caroline smiles. "Do you guys have a dual headphone adapter? We let Lizzie and Hope into our cabin to watch a movie, and you have no idea how loud they are." 

"Yeah, here." Davina digs through her backpack, bringing one out. She doesn't even know why she packed it in the first place, but hands it to her. "How much longer till we land?" 

Before closing the door, Caroline turns around. "Two hours, I think. Thanks." Her face still heating up, Davina gets her charger to charge her phone, and decides to just watch the recommended movie in front of her, which happens to be _Before I Fall_ , a movie she's never seen, but has heard of. 

Nearing the end, Davina watches as Sam runs out to save Juliet, pushing her out of the way. Kol begins to stir at the sound of sniffling, and sits up, looking at the screen, and the brunette curled up next to him, with tissues in her hand. 

" _No. You saved me."_ The voiceover from the girl on the screen fades out as the girl does as well, leaving screen black until the credits begin to play. 

Kol looks at Davina. "You okay, love?" 

"Yeah, fine." Davina dabs at her eyes with her tissue. "It was a good movie, is all." 

"What happened? Seems like the girl got herself into a bit of a kerfuffle." 

Davina laughs at the word. "She died for another girl. Just...reminds me of things." 

"Oh. Well, come on." He pulls her into a hug, and they stay like that until the flight attendant comes by to tell them they're landing. "Alright, love, let's pack up. I believe you were supposed to wake me up a few hours ago." 

"Yeah, well, you were sleeping so peacefully. I fell asleep at some point, too, but decided not to wake you once I did. You were smiling in your sleep. Want to tell me what you were dreaming about?" Davina asks, smirking. 

Kol smiles. "I think I'll keep that to myself, darling." He stands up, stretching. "Oh, open the window." 

Davina does as she's told. "Wow. London is amazing." 

"First time here?" 

"Yeah. I've never actually been out of the US." Davina keeps her gaze trained on the tiny lights growing bigger as they land. 

There's a knock at the cabin door, and Klaus opens the door. "It's going to be late when we arrive at the airport. And cold. Put on a jacket, brother. It'll also be a long drive back home, so prepare for that." He slides the door shut. 

"He looks a bit tipsy," Kol laughs, and shrugs on a black jacket over his t-shirt. "You all set, love?" 

Davina nods, putting her phone and charger into her backpack. "Yeah." 

Kol turns his attention to his fake girlfriend. "You warm enough in that?" He eyes his old high school hoodie. 

"Yep. Why, do you want to cuddle all the way to your old house?" Davina teases. She notices a little flicker of something in Kol's eyes, but it disappears as soon as it appears. 

"Do you?" Kol retorts, leaving Davina's cheeks heated up again. They land, and the awkward expression banter ends. "Just kidding, love. Let's go meet up with my brothers." He takes down Davina's small suitcase, and holds his hand out. 

Davina takes it, lacing their fingers together, and takes his forearm with her other hand. They exit the plane, entering the airport, to the welcome arms of Rebekah and Marcel. 

"You guys didn't have to wait here, you could've waited at baggage claim." Hayley hugs them both, and a very tired Hope follows, with Elijah in tow. "It's great to see you again, though." 

Rebekah moves in to hug Caroline, Lizzie, and her half-brother. "The line was so bloody long, but at least we get to see you first. Besides, I couldn't wait to see my favorite nieces again. And Davina!!" She pulls the shortest of the adults into a tight hug. "I missed you so much!" 

Marcel steps forward, pulling Davina into a hug. "Hey, D." 

"Marcel," Davina greets her ex-stepbrother. "Still don't know how I didn't know about you and Bex, but it's good to see you again." 

Kol hugs Rebekah quickly. "You look like you're growing some grey hairs, Bekah. Is Marcel driving you insane already?" 

Marcel and Kol have a little standoff for a second. Davina knows they don't really get along, but doesn't know why. "You wish. Good to see you too, Kol." 

"Can't say the same for myself, but hello, Marcel." 

Davina groans, and takes Kol's arm. "Be nice." 

Kol pouts. "Fine." His fake girlfriend puts on a realistic giggle, and presses her cheek to his arm, then noticing the small crowd of people waiting to get on the next flight. 

"Should we get going?" Davina asks. 

"I think we should. It's the middle of the night here, after all," Elijah says, smoothing out his suit. "Sister?" 

Rebekah smiles. "Mother ordered another chauffeur to pick you all up, since there's a lot of us. I think he'll be here shortly. You all should go get your bags." Everyone heads down to the baggage claim, and gets their bags. 

"Are those for us?" Davina asks, pointing outside, at the two limos waiting. "We could've literally just taken a cab." 

"Well, Mother insisted." Rebekah stands up, walking to the doors. "Come on. We have to be up early tomorrow for a mandatory breakfast." 

Kol takes Davina's hand, and they walk to the limos, getting in one with Klaus, Lizzie, and Caroline. "So how far is your house?" Caroline asks. 

"About a half hour drive, maybe, considering the lack of traffic," Kol says, as Davina leans into Kol's shoulder. "You tired, love?" 

Davina shakes her head. "Not sleepy tired, just exhausted tired. I can stay awake." 

Kol smiles. "Well, in that case, welcome to London." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just realized how every single chapter starts with someone waking up lmao
> 
> dont worry i'll start next chapter differently
> 
> oh and i know how they're supposed to be living in california, but i'll get to that in a bit :)


	4. Chapter 4

"You ready to meet the less exciting half of my family?" Kol asks, watching Davina from his spot on the bed. 

"Less exciting?" Freya leans on the doorframe, her arms crossed and her lips pulled into a smirk. "I’m the long-lost sister that you all thought died until about nine years ago, remember?." She turns to Davina. "You must be Davina. I'm sorry, I only made it to the reception at Rebekah's wedding, and I don't believe you were there." She smiles at the brunette, and steps into the room, holding out her hand. "I'm Freya."

Davina shakes it, smiling at the oldest of the siblings. "Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you." 

"I've heard a lot about you too. The mysterious girlfriend who taught my baby brother how to do his own laundry." Freya laughs. "Believe me when I say you've done the impossible." She turns to Kol. "She's a keeper." 

Smiling, Kol stands up and walks toward his fake girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her. "Trust me, I know." He kisses her neck, resting his chin on the top of her head. 

Freya rolls her eyes. "Be down in five minutes for breakfast." She smiles at Davina before heading out the door. 

Davina smiles. "I like her." She turns around, and Kol releases her. "So, you ready?" 

"Almost. How about you, love?" Kol takes off his shirt, and goes to put on a button-down shirt instead. Davina looks away right as he turns around, putting on her earrings. 

"Uh, I just need to put on this necklace." She fumbles with the clasp, and Kol steps behind her. 

Davina feels her breath hitch around he steps closer, his fingers brushing hers in an attempt to put it on for her. "Let me help you there." He places her hair over a shoulder, and secures the necklace around her neck. 

It's an awfully intimate moment for them, having never done something like this in private. Davina slowly turns around, and it's almost like some part of her is telling her to do something she's never done before. She looks up at Kol, and they lock eyes for a moment, before her eyes drop down to his lips. 

Before she knows what's happening, her hands are around his neck and she's on his tiptoes kissing him. She finally starts breathing again, and she begins feeling things she's never felt before. 

Sure, they've kissed before, but this kiss feels different. It feels like the first kiss she always imagined having as a kid, and she just _knows_ that Kol feels the same way. They both pretty much melt into each other, until finally Davina pulls back before they both do something they regret. 

"Bloody hell," Kol breathes, his forehead on Davina's, their arms still around each other. "Davina-" 

She pulls away. "We should head downstairs." Davina smiles awkwardly, before smoothing out her shirt and skirt. "Come on." She takes his hand, and they go downstairs. 

Still confused about what happened, Kol follows her, and enters the dining room, where everyone but Esther and Mikael are. "Morning." 

Everyone nods, and the oldest man looks up. "So this is the girlfriend." 

Davina slightly shudders, attempting to make eye contact. "I'm Davina Claire." 

"I'm Finn. This is my wife, Sage." Finn gestures to the woman next to him, whose face is also probably made of stone, though she smiles vaguely. This is our son, Erik, and our daughter, Beretta." He gestures to the two kids, one about eight, and the other around five. Davina's never met any of them, because they apparently "lost" their invitation to Rebekah and Marcel's wedding (Davina's pretty sure they didn't bother sending an invitation). 

Kol puts his hand on Davina's back, gesturing to the two seats across from Rebekah and Marcel, and next to Klaus, Caroline, and Lizzie. They both sit down, and look down to seats at the head and end of the table. Baskets and plates of food are laid out along the long table. "Where are Mother and Mikael?" Kol asks. 

"I'm here, children." Esther walks into the room, in a casual dress. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?" She eyes everyone. "Of course, I've seen Finn and Sage every week since their marriage, but the rest of you, I haven't seen in years, since Rebekah's wedding. I know that little one didn't go," She points to Lizzie. "But Hope was there. Nice to see you again." 

"Hi." Hope looks at Esther warily, having rarely seen her grandmother since her birth. After all, it was Esther who advised an abortion because of the immorality in Hayley's pre-marital pregnancy. Luckily, Klaus was able to save his child, saying that he was the result of an immoral pregnancy as well. 

Finn sits straighter. "Seven years, since we've all been together." 

Out of the corner of her eye, Davina sees Kol roll his eyes. Esther smiles. "There are quite a few people here I have yet to meet, as well. Niklaus?" 

Klaus looks at his mother, and down at Lizzie. "Mother, this is Elizabeth. We call her Lizzie for short. Sweetheart, this is your grandmother." 

Lizzie waves, and Esther walks closer to her, touching her cheek lightly. "She looks like her mother. It's nice to see you again, by the way, Caroline." 

Caroline forces a half-genuine smile at her mother-in-law. "Nice to see you again, too, Esther." 

"And Kol." Esther turns to Davina's fake boyfriend (real boyfriend?). 

"Mother," Kol greets. He stands up, taking Davina's hand. "This is my girlfriend, Davina Claire." 

Davina smiles. "Nice to meet you." 

Esther smiles, genuinely, at her. "Nice to meet you, Davina. You can call me Esther. Sit." Everyone sits, as Esther heads to the head of the table, sitting down gracefully. "Your father was called for an urgent matter in Paris, but he'll be back by dinnertime and the ball." 

She reaches for a breakfast bun, and everyone follows, Kol getting an apple and a slice of toast, while Davina gets a blueberry bagel, cutting it into small chunks and eating it with a fork ("it's the only way to eat a bagel," she argued with Kol once). A servant walks by, handing both Kol and Davina a cup of coffee, and a tray of cream and sugar. Davina looks up at Hayley with a knowing smile, mouthing a _thank you_. 

"So, Kol, how long have you and Davina been together?" Sage asks, cutting into her waffle. 

"Almost four years," Kol responds, bored. He takes a bite of his toast loudly, prompting Davina to crack a smile. It's something she's always ~~loved~~ liked about Kol, the way he didn't care what people thought about him, unless it had to do with his looks. 

Esther puts down her fork, and takes a sip of her coffee. "How did you two meet?"

"Davina ran into me at Columbia. Literally, she crashed into me. I helped her up and introduced myself, and she introduced herself. One of her close friends and I had a project to do, and we started to talk more. I asked her out for coffee, and now here we are." Kol smiles for the first time since walking into the room. 

"Davina, sweetheart, what are your parents like?" Esther asks. 

Blinking, Davina feels everyone's gaze on her. Caroline shoots her a sympathetic look, and Hayley's eyes widen. Kol takes Davina's hand on the table, and she smiles at him gratefully. "My dad's name was Garrett. He left when I was born, so I don't know him at all. My mom never talked about him. And my mom, Kathy, actually married Marcel's dad when I was nine, but she disappeared a few years later. My aunt Julia ended up taking care of me until I left for college." She feels tears sting the back of her eyes, but blinks them away. 

Esther gives her a sympathetic nod. "I'm sorry I asked. But you have us as your new family now." She smiles, and Davina half-smiles back. "So, Rebekah, Marcel, thinking about having any children?" 

"Mother!" Rebekah says, though Davina knows she does secretly want kids. She's worried of how her career will go after, though, since she has to move around a lot, so doesn't bother thinking about them. 

Just thinking about Rebekah's future takes Davina's mind into an endless mind train of how her future will go. Is she going to have to fake date and eventually fake marry Kol? Or is someone going to stand out? 

However, she knows which someone has already been standing out for years. She just didn't know it until about twenty minutes ago. 

* * *

"Cami, I have to talk to you about something," Davina interrupts, as Cami begins her long description of the new guy that's moved across the hall from them. "Important." She's in the garden right now, alone, looking at the many flowers in the Mikaelson residence.

Cami stops talking instantly, leaning into the camera, her blonde hair pulled into a long French braid down her back. "You're not pregnant, are you?" 

"What? No! But it has to do with a guy." 

"It's Kol, isn't it?" Cami sounds apprehensive.

"Uh..." 

"It _is_ Kol! What happened? Tell me everything." 

Davina pauses, trying to find the right way to say how she ended up kissing her fake boyfriend in a way that wasn't for show. "I kissed him." 

The blonde raises her eyebrow and tilts her head, prompting her to say more. "I think you're supposed to, being his fake girlfriend and all." 

"No, like, we were in our room, alone, with no one around, and then I kissed him." 

"Why?" Cami asks, twirling the tips of her hair around her finger. 

Davina sighs again. "I was putting on my necklace, and he stepped behind me to help me." 

Cami shrieks. "He totally likes you. I've been telling you this for the last four years, but he likes you, Davina." 

"Not helping, Cami. What am I supposed to do? Things are kind of weird now. Are we actually together now?" 

"Hold up, what happened after he helped you put on the necklace?" 

"Uh...I turned around, and we stared at each other for a long time, and then I just...kissed him." Davina touches a pink carnation, feeling the soft petals between her fingers, as she turns back to her phone. "Cam?" 

Cami continues talking as she walks to the kitchen, making herself a bowl of cereal. "Did he kiss you back?" 

"Yeah, I think that kiss was pretty mutual," Davina says, moving on to the chrysanthemums. "Why?" 

"No reason. Was there tongue?" 

"Camille!" 

Cami squeals. "There was! Oh my God, you totally like him." She looks at Davina's reddening cheeks. "Correction: you're in love with him." 

Davina keeps her face straight, pursing her lips as she lightly touches the roses, avoiding the thorns. "I think you're overexaggerating, Cami." 

"Admit it. I've seen the way you look at him, and Josh has too." Cami is serious now. "Trust me, even Josh feels like a third wheel when we're all hanging out. Kol literally looks at you with heart-eyes, and so do you. So suck it up and talk to him about your feelings." 

"I..."

"Davina?" Cami asks. "You're seriously not still scared of dating, are you? What happened to Tim was an accident, remember?" 

"Sure." Davina looks at her nails, and looks back up.

"Aw, sweetie, I've known you since we were fifteen. This is your problem, always worrying about the things that you didn't cause. Kol is different, and you know that. He used to flirt with all the girls in the school, and now he only has eyes for you. Remember that time you sprained your ankle three years ago, and Kol literally carried you to your classes because he didn't want you to trip using the crutches?" Cami finishes her cereal, and washes her bowl. 

Davina bites her lip. "Yes, I distinctly remember all the girls 'accidentally' spraining their ankles as well the week following." 

"Hey, I'm serious. Kol has feelings for you, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was in love with you, too." 

"Wait, I didn't say anything about-" 

Cami gives Davina a pointed look, resting her face on her hand, her nails in pastel pink. Davina resigns. 

"Okay, maybe during that kiss I realized that there was something about him that was different." Cami continues to prod her friend, and Davina sighs. "Fine. I'm in love with Kol." 

Cami shrieks. "Finally! Do you know how long it's taken to get you to admit that? Alright, so when are you going to tell him?" 

"Uh..." I look up, and see Rebekah walking over. "Oh, I have to go. Rebekah's here. Bye!" 

"Wait, _the_ Rebekah? Hold up-" 

"Bye!" Davina ends the call, and turns to her friend. "Hey, Bex." 

Rebekah smiles. "We've been looking all over for you. So, us girls are going shopping. Want to join?" 

"Uh-" 

"Do you have a dress for tonight?" 

Davina blinks. "What's happening tonight again?" 

"A charity dinner and ball for the boarding school Klaus and Caroline are opening. So, do you have a dress?" 

"Oh, I packed one, but I think it might be a little informal for a ball." 

Rebekah touches one of the leaves of the closest plant. "Well, then. You're coming with us. I haven't got a dress either, and it's going to take more than just me and Caroline to try to get Hayley to wear a dress." 

"Sage isn't coming?" Davina asks, half-relieved.

"No, she isn't. She's taking care of the kids." Rebekah sighs. "So, it's just you, me, Hayley, and Caroline. Let's go, we don't have much time." 

"But doesn't the event start at 7?" 

Rebekah looks mortified. "I thought it started at 8. Now we have even less time. Come on." She walks off, and Davina hurries after her. 

"We're not shopping for six hours, are we?" She calls, but the blonde is already out of sight. 

**

"Where are you going, love?" Kol asks, as he exits their bathroom to see Davina packing her backpack. 

Davina looks up. "Shopping. Bex is taking me, Hayley, and Caroline to buy a dress. And possibly more. Wish me luck." 

Kol laughs, his eyes shining. "Alright, in that case, take this." He hands her some money. 

"Kol..." 

"Oh, come on, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't pay for you?" Kol places the money in her hand, and looks at her. She stares back into his eyes, and realizes how close they're standing. 

Caroline knocks on the door, opening it. "Hey, Davi--okay, I've got to work on my timing. We're ready to go." She steps out the door. 

Davina steps around Kol, who's kind of cornered her. "I'll see you later?" 

"Davina." The brunette turns around at her name, since Kol really doesn't say it much. "Can we talk when you come back?" 

"Okay." She avoids his eyes, but smiles and exits their room, finally releasing the breath she didn't know she's been holding. 

"D? You good? You look traumatized. What happened?" Marcel asks, walking past her. "Did Kol do something? Because if he did, I'll-" 

Davina laughs lightly. "No, I'm just a little nervous about tonight. Kol just told me how many people would be coming, and you know I don't do people." 

Marcel smiles. "Yeah. Don't worry, you'll be okay. You heading out with Rebekah?" 

"Yeah." 

"Alright. See you." He waves, and she turns to the front door, going down the steps and meeting Hayley, Caroline, and Rebekah. 

"Finally!" Caroline stands up straight, pushing herself off the side door of the car she's been leaning on. "I thought you and Kol were..." She makes gestures with her hands, but Davina knows what she's talking about. 

"No, I was talking to Marcel." Davina smiles, and gets into the backseat with Hayley, while Caroline takes the passenger seat. Rebekah gets into the driver's seat, starting the car. 

They make it to the outdoor shopping center, and Rebekah leads them into Chanel, since she has a VIP thing, being a model for the brand. "So, feel free to choose. Everything's on me today, girls." 

"No, Rebekah-" Davina tries to protest, but Rebekah holds a hand up. 

"Caroline's family, and you two are going to be my future sister-in-laws sooner or later. Don't even try to fight me on this. And because I love you all, I'm buying everything today." Even Hayley softens at that, so Davina decides to let Rebekah get her way. "And if nothing here looks good, there's still a Dior and Burberry we can go to, so don't try to rush this process." 

Rebekah instantly goes to look around at dresses, asking for opinions from Caroline, while Davina stays back with Hayley. "Okay, there's no way I'm wearing something this expensive for a night. Even Elijah would think this is excessive," Hayley says, fingering the material of the nearest dress. 

"Well, we could always return it." 

"We'd have to use Rebekah's receipt. She'd know." 

Davina sighs. "Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice. We're dating some pretty wealthy people. We're going to have to get used to this." 

Over the course of the next hour, Davina and Hayley awkwardly look through racks, while Caroline and Rebekah take turns coming out showing a dress, most of which they end up rejecting. 

Caroline comes with a orange dress in hand. "What do you think?" 

"I think you should try it on." Hayley puts on a convincing look. "I think it's a nice color, though." Caroline nods, heading back to try it on. 

"Wait, are we supposed to match outfits with our dates? Because I can't imagine Klaus wearing orange," Davina says. 

Hayley shrugs. "I don't know. Elijah pretty much wears white and black only, so I guess any color will work." She holds up a random black dress. "This one?" 

Davina furrows her brow. "If you want Elijah breaking someone's wrist again, sure." She eyes the keyhole in the middle of the dress, and Hayley shoves it back on the rack. "Here, let me help you look." She digs through everything, and finally pulls out a nice dark blue cocktail dress that definitely fits both Hayley and Rebekah's standards. "This one." 

Taking it in her hands, Hayley nods. "I'll try it on. Thanks, Davina." She heads to the back, and Caroline comes back out in the dress, slightly frowning. 

"This is definitely a no." She looks down at the clingy material, showing off her curves a little too much. 

"Yeah." Davina cracks a smile, continuing her search for a dress. Caroline goes back in to change back out, and helps Davina look for one. 

Hayley steps out of her room a few minutes later, the dress fitting and looking perfect on her. "So?" 

Rebekah runs out, looking at the dress. "This is the one." 

"I thought so too." Hayley grins, looking at Davina. 

"I found one, too. A strapless red one." She holds it up. "Caroline? Davina?" 

Davina shakes her head. "Should I match with Kol? I don't actually know what color his bow will be." 

"I don't think it matters, but it'd be probably embarrassing if you showed up in blue and Kol showed up in red. I know Marcel's going in just black and white, as is Elijah. I don't know about Nik, though." 

"Klaus is going in black and white, as usual." Caroline smiles. "How's this one?" She holds up a satin periwinkle dress with a sweetheart neckline. 

Everyone hesitates. "Uh, Caroline, are you sure about that?" 

"When I was eighteen, Klaus gave me a dress like this one, for prom, because my original dress had got dirty. He ended up being my date as well, and then the rest is history." 

Rebekah smiles. "I had no idea my brother was such a romantic. Well, then, I'd say this dress is perfect." She turns to Davina. "How about you?" 

"Uh, I'm going to check with Kol really quick." She takes a few steps back, and calls Kol. 

"Bekah scared you off already?" Kol teases. 

Davina rolls her eyes. "No, I was just wondering what color bow you're wearing, just in case we end up looking like idiots." 

"Oh. About that..."

"You didn't _forget_ to pack a tux, did you?"

Kol gives a short laugh. "Well..."

"Are you kidding me?" 

"I may have forgotten to pick it up from the dry cleaners." Davina groans. 

"What are we going to do?" 

There's a silence on the other line. "I can borrow one from Klaus or Elijah. Or Marcel or Finn, but probably not." 

"What. Color?" Davina says through her gritted teeth.

"Black, I suppose." 

"Great. Thanks. See you later!" 

"Alright, bye." 

"Love you too!" She hangs up then, and turns to her friends, all of which have been definitely listening. "What? He's wearing black." 

* * *

Kol hangs up, confused. Then he realizes that the rest of the girls must've been around as well, and his heart sinks slightly. He knows he's always loved Davina, from the moment they first went on their fake date to meet Rebekah, or even maybe before that. 

His phone rings again, and he sees that it's Cami. Sighing, he picks it up, knowing everyone else is far away, with the maids cleaning rooms about now. "What?" 

"You and Davina kissed." 

Kol blinks. "Yes, I believe we're supposed to do that as a couple." 

"No, like _kissed_ kissed." Cami sounds impatient. 

"Yes, we did. What about it?" 

Cami groans on the other line. "Are you kidding me? You've been in love with her for years, and she finally made a move!" 

Kol rolls his eyes, sitting down on the bed. "I think it was just the tension. It was a rather intimate moment we had, you know." 

"So are you going to finally make your move?" 

"I believe it was a one-time thing, Cami. Besides, I don't even know if she feels the same way." 

Cami makes an unearthly noise into the phone that sounds like a groan and a yell. "Okay, I'm going to say this once, Kol Mikaelson, and you'd better listen up. Earlier she called me about your moment, and then she admitted OUT LOUD that she's in love with you." 

"What? Really?" 

"Yes. Now man up and tell her about your feelings before you turn thirty." 

Kol takes a deep breath. "There is a ball tonight. Maybe then?" 

"Do you have enough time to prepare your speech?" 

"What? Speech? No way. And I have enough time, don't worry." 

Cami squeals into the phone. "Alright, I'll be talking to you BOTH tonight, then. I have to go now. Bye!" 

"Bye." 

"Oh, and also..." 

"Yes?" 

Cami sucks air through her teeth. "I know you're nervous. And you should be. But it's going to be okay. You two are going to be the most perfect couple EVER." 

"Of course I'm nervous, but okay. Call really late, though. Most of these balls here last til midnight." 

"Alright, then. Bye!" 

"Bye." He puts the phone down, and heads out.

**

At six fifteen exactly, the girls come back from their shopping trip, with all of them holding at least two bags of things. Kol's sitting on the bed in his and Davina's room when she enters with two huge bags. 

"You're back. Here, let me help you with those, love. What'd you buy?" Kol takes the bags from Davina, placing them on the bed. 

Davina sighs, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "A dress, shoes, some jewelry, and this." She points at the second bag. "That's for you." 

Kol reaches over, and opens the bag. Inside is a new tuxedo, with shoes, a bow tie, and cuff links. "Davina, this is..." 

"Everything I bought with the money you gave me. You're welcome." She pats him on the back, smirking. "I said I'd go to Bex's room with Care and Hayley for hair and makeup. I'll see you at the party?" 

Kol nods. "Of course, love." Davina heads down the hall, taking her bag with her. 

**

"Where are they?" Klaus asks, looking at the staircase, where the girls are expected to be descending. "Caroline never takes this long." 

Kol smirks. "Yes, Niklaus. I assume she takes longer." 

Elijah keeps a straight face, as more people come in. "I suppose the girls are trying to get Hayley to wear a dress. She hasn't worn one since the last party we've been to, which was when Hope was a toddler." 

"Well, Rebekah's just being normal," Marcel says, bored. "They only had 45 minutes to get dressed, and she usually takes two hours." 

Esther walks by. "Your father is here." She points to Mikael, across the room. "Oh, I think the girls are here." She points at the staircase, where Rebekah comes down first, in a red strapless dress and red heels, her makeup flawless, and hair up in an updo. Hayley comes down in a dark blue dress that exposes her shoulders and falls to her feet, her hair in a braid crown. Caroline comes down in a periwinkle dress that sends Klaus into a daze of nostalgia, and Davina...

Davina, in a simple black a-line dress that just falls above her knees and black lace-up heels, walks down the steps with her long hair falling down her back, causing an overwhelming pang of love to hit Kol straight in the chest. She comes down, smiling through her very minimal makeup, the lights reflecting off her seven rings, chandelier earrings, and bracelet. She's also wearing a few necklaces of varying lengths, the longest one with a crystal teardrop pendant. "Hey." 

"You look dazzling, love," Kol manages to get out. 

"Right? That's what I keep saying." Caroline says. 

Klaus is still in a daze. "That looks like the prom dress." 

Caroline smiles. "Right? I chose it for a reason, Klaus." She kisses him, and takes his hand. "Let's go find Bonnie and Elena." They disappear into the crowd, and Kol turns to Davina. 

"Speaking of old friends, there's someone I'd like you to meet, love." He turns to a certain man in a similar suit. "Jeremy!" 

The man turns, and comes closer. "Hey, Kol!" 

"Jeremy, this is Davina Claire, my girlfriend. Love, this is Jeremy Gilbert, my best friend. We go way back." 

"Freshman year, track and field." Jeremy smiles. "Thanks for inviting me. Though I don't think I would've needed one, seeing as Elena would've dragged me here anyway." 

Kol laughs. "Elena is Jeremy's adoptive brother, and biological cousin. She and Caroline are best friends," he explains to Davina, who nods along. "Thanks for being here, Jer. I'll go introduce Davina to some other friends." 

"Sure, man." Jeremy pats Kol's shoulder, and leaves. 

"He seems cool." Davina adjusts her ring on her index finger. 

Kol smiles. "He is. Now, where were we?" 

"Kol." Davina turns around, to see a man walking to them. "It's been a long time." 

Kol's face melts into a serious expression. "Mikael." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh i was totally going to write this longer, but it's getting late and i had to get something out, so looks like i'll be cramming some stuff into next chapter.
> 
> xoxo


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i actually originally wrote a good 3,000 words last night before my stupid laptop crashed and all my work went unsaved, so here's a slightly crappier version of the original haha

Davina looks from Kol to his father, catching the little resemblances they share. 

"How is New York? College going well?" Mikael asks, his face still straight. 

Kol nods. "Yes, and I promise I've been studying hard." 

Mikael turns to Davina. "This must be the girl your mother was telling me about. Davina, correct?" 

"Yeah. Nice to meet you." Davina shakes Mikael's outstretched hand, and Kol puts an arm around her waist. 

"Well, I see that Esther was right. You are quite the beautiful young lady." 

Davina smiles. "Thank you." 

Kol interjects. "Sorry, Father, but we have to go meet someone. Freya's with Keelin, if you're looking for her." He steers Davina through the crowd, until they reach an empty table. 

Davina looks back at where they left Mikael. "Well, that was fun." 

"Yeah, my father is like that." Kol grimaces. "But we've gotten through him, and I think he liked you." 

"Not sure that's an accomplishment, but okay." Davina smiles at Kol, and keeps it that way, though she knows that they're going to have to talk eventually. "So about earlier-" 

"Kol!" A woman probably 5 or 6 months pregnant in a dark red dress comes over, hugging him. A man around Klaus's age follows, putting a hand on the woman's shoulder. "I haven't seen you in forever." 

"Yes, it's nice to see you and Damon again, Elena." Kol smiles, raising his glass to them both. "Let me introduce you to Davina." He gestures to his fake girlfruend, who waves. 

Elena smiles. "So this is Davina. We've heard so many stories from Caroline. I'm Elena Salvatore. This is my husband, Damon. And this is Rose." She pats her belly, and Damon gapes. 

"I thought we agreed on Lilian!" 

"Salvatore?" Davina asks, still in thought. "As in Stefan Salvatore?" 

Damon raises an eyebrow. "Oh, she knows the whole wedding crasher story?" Kol nods. "Yeah, Stefan's my little brother." 

"Oh." Davina suddenly feels awkward. "So, how long have you been married?" 

"Two years." Elena looks at her husband lovingly. "You two have been together for a while too, I've heard." 

Kol puts an arm around Davina. "Four years." 

"And counting." Davina smiles. 

"So, are you guys thinking about-"

Suddenly everyone turns to a clinking of glass in the middle of the room. Klaus is the one tapping on his glass. 

"Everyone, thank you for coming to Caroline and my fundraising dinner for our new school opening in Mystic Falls in six months!" Everyone cheers, and Klaus settles them down. "And now, my brother Elijah would like to say something." 

Davina looks over at Elijah, who is standing by Hayley. "As many of you know, I have been dating the wonderful Hayley Marshall for almost nine years now." He turns to Hayley. "Hayley, ever since I met you, I knew there was something different about you." 

Hayley's eyes widen. Elijah continues. "And once we found out you were pregnant with my brother's child, you became family. But now I'd like to start our own family, together. So I believe the question I have to ask now is…" He gets down on one knee, and takes out a box, popping it open. "Hayley Marshall, will you marry me?" 

Tears are flowing out of Hayley's eyes, and she nods, unable to say anything. Everyone cheers, as Elijah slips the ring onto Hayley's left ring finger, kissing her softly as he stands up. 

As Davina and Kol make their way to congratulate the newly engaged couple, a slow song comes on, and everyone begins to sway to the music with their partners. 

"I guess we're doing this now." Davina puts a hand on Kol's shoulder, as he puts his on her waist, taking her free hand in his. 

They make their way across the room to Hayley and Elijah. "Congrats," Davina says softly to them. 

"Yeah, congratulations, brother." Kol smiles, as Hayley replies. 

"Thanks, guys. Really." She looks at her now fiancé, smiling. "You guys are next, right?" 

Davina blushes, as Kol groans. "You're the fifth person in two days already." 

"Who were the other four?" Freya asks, swaying to the music with Keelin. 

"Mother, Caroline, Bex, and Hope. And Elena was about to ask before Niklaus made the announcement." 

Hayley laughs. "Well, looks like Hope's looking forward to calling you her aunt, Davina." She and Elijah make their way over to some other friends, and Freya and Keelin go to get a drink. 

Davina turns to Kol, resting her head on his shoulder. “Esther asked about us?” 

“Earlier, while you were out shopping. I think she’s a bit interested in you, love.” 

“Oh. Okay.” The song ends, and they separate. 

Kol looks down at Davina. “Want to go get some fresh air?” 

“Please.” Davina and Kol walk to the front door, hand in hand, when they’re stopped by Mikael. 

“Sorry for the inconvenience, but may I have a word with you, Kol?” The Mikaelson patriarch holds his hand up between the two of them. 

Davina looks at Kol, sadly smiling. “It’s okay. I have to call someone, anyway.” She pecks him on the cheek quickly, before vanishing in the crowd. 

Kol turns to his father. “What is it, Mikael?” 

“We have to talk. About Davina.” Mikael leads Kol down the hall, to a quieter space. 

“If you don’t approve of Davina, that’s your own problem, not mine.” Kol sets his jaw. 

Mikael shakes his head. “It’s not me that doesn’t approve, it’s your mother, Kol. I, for one, like your girlfriend. She’s different from the rest, almost a cross between Hayley and Caroline.” 

“Why doesn’t Mother approve?” Kol asks. 

“She thinks Davina isn’t the right one for you, solely because she lacks something the others have.” 

Kol sighs. “And what is that?” 

“I’ll let you figure that part out, boy. Caroline’s mother is a respected woman in Mystic Falls, because she was the sheriff and councilwoman. Keelin comes from a long line of well-known doctors, and Marcel is a governor’s son. Hayley, on the other hand, is the daughter of the founders of a big business, although her pregnancy with Hope led to a fallout in the company, causing bankruptcy. That’s mostly the reason your mother doesn’t much like Hope and Hayley, but no matter.” 

“So Mother disapproves of Davina because she wasn’t born into a higher society?” Kol’s hand tightens into a fist. 

Mikael puts a hand on Kol’s shoulder. “I’m attempting to talk reason into her, but it’ll take some time.” 

“Well,” Kol’s voice sharp as steel. “You can tell  _ Esther _ that as long as she doesn’t approve of the girl I love, she can cease to call me her son.” He punches the nearby wall, hard, before stalking back off to the party. 

**

Davina heads up to her and Kol’s room to call Cami, putting her phone to her ear. 

Cami picks up almost immediately. “Hey, did you and Kol talk yet?” 

“No, we’re still at the ball. He’s talking to his dad right now, and I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing.”

“Oh. Well, go talk to him. And I don’t care about all your old issues with opening up, you’ve opened up to me, and I’m still alive and okay, got it? So please, for the sake of me and everyone who’s seen those lovesick looks you and Kol give each other every time you’re within a mile radius of each other, either tell him how you feel, or just make out with him and get it over with.” 

Davina sighs. “I just don’t want to be that girl who has to go talk to her best friend about all her champagne problems, Cam.” 

Cami laughs. “I’m a psych student. I think if you didn’t come to me for all your problems, I’d be failing right now. Listen, just go talk to Kol. I know you just don’t want to ruin this thing you guys have, but trust me, the two of you are something no one can break. I’ve done my share of romantic studies, and you two have gotten a higher score in chemistry just platonically than any other couple I’ve studied. Talk to Kol, and I expect a call in three or four hours. Bye!” 

“Wait!” 

“Bye!” Cami hangs up, and Davina groans, heading back downstairs. After asking a few people, she finds Kol, standing by a table, with a rather angry expression crossed on his face. She heads over to him, putting a hand on his arm. 

“Hey, you okay?” Davina looks down at Kol’s hand, and notices that his knuckles are slightly cut. “What happened?” She takes his hand, gently running her finger over the cuts. 

Kol puts down his untouched glass of champagne. “I punched a wall.” 

“Why?” She keeps her focus on his small injury. 

“Mikael.” 

Davina looks up. “What’d he say? Because you can say the word, and I can get Marcel to beat him up.” 

Kol laughs. “No, he told me that apparently my mother doesn’t approve of you because you’re not from a higher society.” He presses his lips together, putting his other hand over Davina’s, fully aware that Esther is standing a few feet away, watching them. “I know you don’t care, darling, but I do.” 

“Of course I don’t care, Kol. Not everyone can like me. It’s actually a miracle you’ve stayed around this long.” 

“Well, where else would I go?” Kol brings his hand to Davina’s face, tucking her hair behind her ear and running his thumb over her cheekbone. 

Davina smiles. “So, you still wanna get out of here?” 

Kol perks up. “Yes. I’d like that very much. The atmosphere in here has begun to get bloody intoxicating.” 

“Come on.” She tugs his hand, and they exit through the front door, descending down the steps. 

It’s then Davina realizes she doesn’t know where they can go. “Where should we go?” 

Kol grins mischievously. “I know where we can go. Come, I know where Mother hides her car keys.” He picks up a fake rock, revealing keys underneath. 

“Wait, you’re not driving, are you? You’re practically half-drunk.” 

“It’s that kind of doubt that makes me want to marry you sometimes, Davina Claire,” Kol says, before he can stop himself. 

Davina bursts out laughing. “Okay, you’ve definitely had too much champagne. Give me the keys.” She holds out her hand, but Kol holds the keys up high. 

“I swear, I’ve had only two sips, love. And besides, I’m the only one here with a European license.” Kol looks at her pointedly, and Davina relents. 

“Fine, but the second you get pulled over, I’m jumping out.” 

Kol grins. “You wouldn’t leave me behind. Come on.” He goes to a hidden garage in the back, and opens the door for Davina to get in. He gets into the driver’s seat, turning to his fake girlfriend, who’s taking off her earrings. 

“So, where are we going?” Davina asks, twirling a ring on her index finger, looking out the window. 

“You’ll see.” Kol makes a turn away from the bustling city, pulling into a more suburban side of London. 

Davina leans back in her seat, resisting the urge to just rip her shoes off and throw them out the window. “When was the last time you’ve been here?”

Kol looks over at her quickly. “Five years ago, for Henrik’s funeral.” They sit in silence, not wanting to continue on that. 

“I’m sorry,” Davina laments, knowing what it's like to lose someone close. 

“It’s okay, love. He and I weren’t too close. To tell the truth, I haven’t been close with any of my siblings, really. Until you came along, and Bex became spending more time with us. Then I suppose with her and Nik and Elijah being three peas in a pod, I started spending time with them, too. So thank you for that.” 

Davina smiles. propping her elbow on the windowsill, dropping her head onto her hand. “You’re welcome, I guess. Are we there yet?” 

“Already sick of me?” Kol teases, prompting Davina to roll her eyes. 

“You wish.” Kol parks on the side of the street, and opens the door for Davina, leading her to a grassy area by a riverbank, the water illuminated by the lights of the city across the river, and the bridge in between. There are some people still walking along the small sidewalk, sitting on the grass, or just standing to take pictures. 

A flower seller comes by, and Kol buys a single pink carnation from him, handing it to Davina, who blushes. “I can be quite the ladies’ man when I need to, you know.” 

Davina lightly touches one of the petals of the flower. “That was made abundantly clear the day you stepped onto campus for the first time.” 

“You noticed me?” Kol asks. Davina smacks him in the arm, and walks with him away from the rest of the people. “Alright, can we talk now? About earlier?” 

Confused at first, Davina realizes what he’s talking about. “Oh, yeah. We need to talk. About a lot, actually.” 

Kol skips a stone across the river, before turning to her. “Tell me it’s not just me, love. I know bloody well you feel it too.” 

“Well, we got there fast.” Davina twirls the flower in her hand. 

“Davina.” 

Davina sighs, turning to him. Avoiding his eyes, she continues looking at the carnation. “Okay, somewhere along the lines of these past few years, I may have realized that there was some unspoken connection between us. But you know about why I stopped dating when I was seventeen.” 

Kol does. She once opened up to him about how she accused her first boyfriend, TIm, of flirting with another girl, and how she stormed off across the street. Tim followed her, running when the light was red, and got hit by a car. He ended up in the hospital for two months, and after that emotionally scarring situation, Davina broke it off and cut herself off from the rest of the world. “Yes, I do. And I respect your point of view, but that was eight years ago. You have the option to move on from that and start again, but if you don’t want to, I’ll wait for you. I swear, Davina Claire, I’ll wait for you, no matter how long it takes.” 

“Kol…” 

“I will. You bring out the best and worst in me, and I don’t think anyone’s been able to do that for years.” 

Davina pauses, thinking back to all the times she’s looked to Kol for help, whether it’s for a fight with Cami, or just a simple life issue. And deep down inside, she knows it’s not just because he gives decent advice, but because she just genuinely wanted to find a reason to talk to him. “During that kiss we had earlier today, I know it shouldn’t have happened, but it did, and I think that says enough about how I feel about you. I just don’t know how I never realized it until then, but it’s been you all this time, Kol.” Davina steps closer to him. “And that’s not going to change. If we break up, screw it. It’s not going to happen.” 

“Davina…” Kol’s eyes widen slightly. He didn’t think she’d change her mind so fast. 

“I know it’s been years since I’ve dated, but with you, I actually feel grounded. And I think…” She finds the right words. “I think I’m ready to try again.” They stare at each other for a while, until Kol manages to get words out. 

“Well, then.” He tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, bringing her face to his. This kiss, it’s different again. Better than the first, more real. Davina drops her flower in an attempt to wrap her hands around his neck.

Davina smiles, pulling away. “Thank God Cami exists.” 

“I know, if she hadn’t called me-” 

“She called you?” Davina asks, stepping back. 

Kol rubs the back of his neck shyly. “Well, she dropped a few hints and not-so-subtly told me to suck it up and confess.” 

Davina laughs. “Well, looks like we have someone to thank for this.” She gets on her tiptoes and presses one more short kiss to Kol’s lips. “Should we head back now?” 

“Alright, darling.” He takes her hand, and they take their time walking back to the car, before they get in and drive back. 

* * *

“So how’d it go with your romantic evening?” Cami asks, as she opens the door to her and Davina’s apartment, entering and turning on the lights. 

Davina sits on the bed, smiling. “Well…”

“Oh my God. Tell me I’m dreaming. Finally!” The blonde smiles at the camera, clapping her hands. “At your wedding, I demand to be maid of honor.” 

“We’re not looking that far ahead yet, Cami. Anyway, Kol and I just want to say thank you for being our relationship counselor for the past four or five years.” 

Cami smiles widely. “This calls for a celebration. Hold up, I’ll be right back.” She heads to the kitchen and comes back with a bottle of whiskey, pouring herself a little before closing the cap. 

“Cami, that better be it. If you end up in a pile of vomit tomorrow morning, I’m not calling Josh.” 

Kol comes out of his shower, and hops on next to Davina. “Oh, it’s you,” he says to Cami, unenthused. 

“Nice to see you, too. Davina was just telling me everything.” Cami takes a large swallowful of her drink. “What time is it over there? Two?” 

Davina looks at the time. “Yeah. Wait, are you drinking alcohol for dinner?” 

Cami laughs. “Of course not! I’m meeting up with Josh over here.” 

“Good.” Davina puts her head on Kol’s shoulder, relieved that all of this can be finally real. “Alright, it’s late. We should get to sleep. Bye!” 

“Byee!” Cami hangs up just as she finishes her glass. 

Davina puts her phone down on her nightstand, plugging in her charger. She pulls the blankets up, lying down, and sighs. “She’s going to be so wasted tomorrow morning.” 

Kol laughs, lying down next to her and putting an arm around her. “Right? Well, we’d better get some sleep now, love.” He kisses her forehead. “Goodnight.” 

“‘Night.” She scoots closer to him, placing her head on his shoulder. 

* * *

Davina wakes up to Kol watching her. "That's creepy." She sits up, stretching. 

"Yeah, but you like it." He heads to the bathroom, washing up, before Davina goes in to as well. "So, I think we're just spending a family day today." 

"That's fine with me. But Esther-" 

Kol sighs. "Enough about her. She has her own opinions, and I have my own, got it?" 

Davina smiles. "Alright." The two of them head down the hall, hand in hand, to everyone except Finn, Sage, and Mikael in the sitting room, watching them expectantly. 

"Well, good morning to you too." Kol smirks, and Caroline looks up. 

"Is it true?" 

Blinking, Davina stares back. "Is what true?" 

Caroline looks confused. "Rebekah told us that you guys got engaged as well last night." 

"Marcel overheard a phone call, and I overheard two. I put two and two together, and figured it out," Rebekah says, excitedly bouncing. "Is it true?" 

Davina looks up at Kol. "Uhh..."


	6. Chapter 6

**2017.**

Davina collapses onto Kol's bed, breathing in the scent of him in his pillows. "Come on, she'll be here any minute now." 

"I know, I know." Kol lies down next to her, facing her as she puts her arms around him, pretending to be asleep. 

Within two minutes, the sound of the front door practically slamming open is heard, and a very familiar voice rings out. "Kol, I know you've been ignoring my calls! Spare me the excuses and get the bloody hell out here right now before I-" She opens the door to Kol's bedroom, and sees him with Davina. "Oh. That's a valid excuse, I suppose." 

Yawning, Davina pretends to be waking up. "Wha-oh, hi, Bex." She smiles, and looks down at Kol. "He drank a bit too much last night." 

Rebekah sighs. "I would be throwing things at him right now if you weren't here. He didn't do anything crazy, did he?" She doesn't say anything, but Davina knows what she's implying.

"No, he didn't. My friend Josh and I took him home early." 

"I know I'm his younger sister, but sometimes it's like I'm the older one. I suppose you relate?" 

Davina laughs, hopping off the bed after adjusting the blanket on Kol. She leads the blonde to the kitchen, pouring her a glass of water. "Sometimes three years feels like nothing. But don't worry, he's under control." 

"Thank you, Davina. I know I don't say it much, but thank you for taking care of my brother. If anything, I'd have thought you two were married." 

Davina blushes. "I don't know how to respond to that." 

Rebekah smiles. "You could get married, you know." She flashes her huge engagement ring. "We could have a double wedding." 

"Thanks, but I think we're going to take our time. So, why are you here?" 

"Just checking on Kol. He's good, and I have to go, so I'll see you later?" 

"Of course." Rebekah and Davina hug, before the blonde leaves, closing the door firmly. 

Kol emerges a few seconds later. "Thank you for saving me there, love." 

Davina rolls her eyes. "If you didn't want your sister coming here to attack you, you should've just answered her calls. You didn't need me to pretend to be with you." 

"Friends with benefits, remember?" 

"That's not the way that phrase is used, but okay." Davina looks at Kol for a second, before prying her eyes away. "So, are we ever going to fake break-up? Because there's no way I'm going to be fake engaged to you, much less fake marry you." 

Kol laughs. "Don't worry, darling. I already told you, it was a one-time thing. This was just a little in-between thing. Just fake dating, I swear." 

"You better mean that." 

**2019.**

Davina looks at Kol, frantically searching for an excuse, but Kol gives her a  _ just go with it  _ look. "Yeah. Thanks, Bex." 

Rebekah jumps up. "Oh my God, you and Hayley and Elijah should have a double wedding." 

"Wait, we're not-" Hayley begins, but Rebekah continues. 

"We could have it by Christmas if we get the right planner! Lucky for you, I'm a fantastic planner, as is Caroline." The blonde gestures to the other blonde, who tiredly smiles. 

Hayley tries to get a word in. "Elijah and I aren't in a rush to-" 

"It's settled. A Christmas double wedding. I'll go make a few phone calls." Rebekah rushes off.

Freya whistles. "Thank God she was out of town when we got married." She squeezes Keelin's hand. 

Marcel sighs. "Sorry, guys. You know she's like this. I'll go talk to her." 

"Tell her that we're not in a rush to get married," Elijah says, putting a hand on Hayley's shoulder. 

Davina nods. "Same here." 

Marcel stands up. "She won't listen, but I'll try to talk some sense into her." He leaves, following Rebekah. 

"So can we see the ring?" Caroline asks, practically bouncing in excitement. 

Davina freezes, and turns to Kol, who keeps a straight face. "Of course. We'll be right back." Kol takes Davina by the hand, taking her back upstairs to their room. 

As soon as they close the door, Davina whirls around to face Kol. "So we're doing this now, huh?" 

"Hey, you know there's only two options: this or spill, love. And this is definitely the easier option." Kol digs around his suitcase, throwing things everywhere. 

"Or harder," Davina mumbles. "So what are you looking for?" 

Kol stands back up, holding up a tiny box. "Here." 

Davina takes it, opening it to reveal a ring with a large center diamond, surrounded by two smaller diamonds and two tiny pearls holding the three together; the five stones sitting on two thin bands. "Kol, I can't have this. It's just too expensive." 

"You deserve the world, darling." 

"Shut up." She tries to shove the box back into his hands, but he resists.

Kol shakes his head. "I bought this for you specifically. It's a gift." He takes the box out of her hands, opening it. "I've had this for a long time."

"Well, that's clear, it was buried in your suitcase. You were just carrying this these past four days?" 

"Well, two years, actually. Cami told me you liked it and I thought it might work as a birthday present that I never worked up the courage to give you, but I suppose now is the right time to give it to you." He takes the ring out, slipping it on her left ring finger. "Here we go." 

The two of them head back downstairs, and Davina reveals the ring to the family, all of whom admire it. Rebekah comes down in time to start inspecting it, finally deeming it as perfect after five minutes of silence. 

"Alright, you just gave me about ten more reasons to plan this wedding now." Her phone rings, and Rebekah pulls it out. "I'll be right back!" She hugs them both quickly before running back into the other room. 

Marcel comes back out. "Yeah, I don't think this is going to go well." He puts his hands on his hips, sighing. "You guys are in for a wild ride." 

Hayley groans. "Seriously? Can I go talk to her?" 

"No, Hayley, you are not going to beat up my sister," Klaus says, pulling Hope and Lizzie onto his lap. "I don't care if you're engaged to my brother, if you hurt my sister-" 

"I actually meant I was going to talk to her, Klaus. Maybe slam her head into a table if necessary, but can I talk to her?"

Klaus subtly rolls his eyes, and Hayley throws a bread crumb at him. "Fine, go talk to her, if you can. But none of us are helping you if you end up being shoved into a wedding dress." 

Hayley stands up, and walks to the next room. 

Caroline presses her lips into a thin line. "Well, I'm going to get coffee. Who wants some?" Ten hands go up, and Caroline groans. "Seriously? Fine." She stalks to the kitchen. 

Davina turns to Kol, then to everyone else. "I'll go help her." 

Kol nods. "Go ahead." He presses a kiss to her head, and she heads off to the kitchen. 

"Hey." Davina helps Caroline get out a few extra mugs. 

"You don't have to help me, Davina." Caroline smiles, leaning against the counter as the coffee machines begin their work. 

Davina picks a grape off its branch, popping it into her mouth. "Well, it was starting to get chaotic in there." 

"I never got to say congrats. It's pretty great that you two are finally engaged. I mean, it's all we've been talking about since forever." 

"Thanks." Davina subconsciously twirls the ring on her finger. "You look tired." 

Caroline sighs, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "I am. We were up really late last night, you know." 

"I think it's something else, Care." Davina raises an eyebrow. "I saw you head up early with Lizzie at like, nine. And also, you haven't been drinking alcohol lately, which for one, isn't a bad thing, but it's not like you."

"Davina, has anyone ever told you that you're annoyingly observant?" Caroline teases. 

Davina crosses her arms, eyeing her friend. "Seriously, what's up? You're acting weird, it's almost like you're pregnant." 

Caroline's mouth snaps shut. 

"Oh my God." Davina covers her mouth. "How long have you known?" 

"Three weeks. I'm a month in." 

"Have you told Klaus yet? Or anyone?" 

Caroline pours coffee into each of the mugs, sighing again. "You're the only one that knows. Well, and Klaus's friend Sophie, who's a gynecologist. She's the one who told me, but I haven't exactly been able to tell Klaus yet? I don't know how he'll react. I know he'll be happy, but another kid?" 

Davina gives her a small smile. "You saw how much Klaus changed after Hope, and then after Lizzie. Who knows, maybe after another girl he'll actually start teaching dance lessons." She points into the next room, where the two girls are trying to dance on Klaus's feet. 

"How do you know it's going to be a girl?" 

"I don't. I just think that if it were a boy, it'd be weird. There's only Nik, and if you guys had a boy, maybe there would be a weird balance." Davina shrugs, and picks up the mugs, handing them out to the adults in the next room. She heads back to get the rest of the mugs. "You should tell him. Actually, all of them. Maybe it'd take Rebekah's mind off the double wedding that no one wants to happen. But then again, it's your choice." 

Caroline smiles, pulling Davina into a hug. "You're the best." 

"It's all my friend Cami, honestly." Davina's eyes widen. "Speaking of which, I have to go call her." She quickly runs upstairs with her coffee, closing the door. 

"It's five in the morning," Cami groans, despite being wide awake. "I had to pause the movie." 

Davina rolls her eyes, and lowers her voice. "Cami, something went really wrong." 

"What?" Cami sits up, brushing her hair out of her face. 

"There was this misunderstanding with all the phone calls Kol and I made to you, and now everyone thinks we're engaged and now we're pretending." Davina sighs, brushing her eyelashes with her left hand, causing Cami to shriek at the ring. 

"The ring! He finally gave it to you? He took it with him?" 

Davina nods, looking at it. "Yeah. Anyway, I think I need counseling now, Camille the personal therapist." 

"Just three months away from getting my stupid degree. Anyway, Davina, just go with it. You're a pro at it. Just don't snap and you'll be okay, got it?" 

"Cami, this is going out of hand though." 

Cami yawns. "Davina, it's your choice whether or not you want to continue this façade, but if you don't, then speak up about it. I'm tired. Goodbye." She hangs up, and Davina groans, heading back downstairs. 

Kol stands up when he sees her come down. "Oh, thank God you're back, love. What happened? Are you not feeling well?" 

Davina shakes her head, dropping into the seat next to Kol. "No, just a stomachache. I'm okay now." She puts her head on Kol's shoulder. 

"You sure you're alright?" 

"Yes. I'm fine, Kol." Davina tries not to sound annoyed, but Kol has a feeling she's just the slightest bit irritated. "Really, I am. Just a little tired." 

Kol smiles. "Well, we have a very uneventful day today. Why don't you just take it slow?" 

"Okay." Davina curls up into Kol's side as Caroline gives her a smile. 

* * *

Everyone's just finished lunch when they all part ways, with Klaus and Elijah deciding to go out for a drive, Marcel and Rebekah deciding to go on a date, Hayley and Caroline spending the day with their daughters, and Kol and Davina pretty much spending time doing nothing. 

Esther walks into the room Kol and Davina are in, holding her hands in front of her. "Kol, can I speak to you?" 

Kol turns to Davina, panicking, but she puts a hand to his cheek. "Go. I'll be fine." Sighing, he follows his mother out, as Davina stands up to explore the house. 

"What did you want to talk to me about, Mother?" 

Esther turns around, closing the door to Mikael's office, before facing her youngest son. "Davina." 

Kol throws his hands up. "Of course." He sits on one of the couches. "Well, the more bad things you say about her, the more I won't leave her. Feel free to begin talking." 

"I wish you'd told me about your engagement before you told everyone out of the blue. We don't even know her that well yet." 

"Correction, Mother. You don't know her that well. Hayley and Elijah and Niklaus and Caroline and Marcel and Rebekah love her already, and I think Sage has taken a liking to her as well. Even Mikael likes her, and Finn seems to tolerate her. If you don't like her, there might be a bit of a problem there." 

Esther sits down next to him. "Kol, Davina seems too perfect. She could be after the money we have-" 

"What has she done that's proved that? She hasn't taken anything, has she?" 

"The way she acts just seems like something is off." 

Kol stands up. "If she were after our money, she wouldn't have tried to reject the ring I gave her, because it was too expensive." 

"Kol, that ring does seem rather pricy." 

"I've said this to her already, but I won't hesitate to repeat myself. She deserves the world. I honestly don't know what she sees in me, but I know she's just as lucky with love as I am. The world could've thrown me with another better girl, but I wouldn't choose her. I'll always choose Davina." He sets his jaw. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go find my fiancée." He leaves, closing the door behind him. 

**

Davina wanders the halls, exploring. Looking through the pictures and artworks around the mansion, she wistfully wonders how it must've been like growing up in this place. She stumbles upon a large family picture, though it does have Caroline, Hayley, Sage, Keelin, and their kids in it. 

Carefully studying each of the looks, she deduces that it's probably around a few years old. Kol looks younger, but also the same, with the same boyish smile she fell in love with four years ago. Klaus and Elijah haven't aged at all, as have Finn. Sage is smiling wide, something that seems almost impossible. Caroline is very heavily pregnant, Hayley's hair is parted differently, and Keelin's hair is much longer. Rebekah is just beaming, as usual. They're all outside in a fancy garden, dressed in fancy outfits. This must've been the last time they were all together, seven years ago. 

Davina notices a slightly familiar face, and sees a family member she's never met before, before she realizes it must be Henrik, the brother who passed a few years after the picture was taken. The face looks so familiar, yet she can't remember where she's seen it before. 

"That's our youngest brother, Henrik." Davina jumps at the voice, and turns to see Finn, looming over her shoulder. "You've probably heard about him from Kol." 

"I have. I'm sorry for your loss." Davina smiles sadly, and Finn surprisingly softens a little. 

"It's alright. He and I weren't close, but I do remember the times he would ask me for advice on a girl." He looks at Davina. "I know Mother doesn't approve, but I see why Kol loves you so much. Rebekah tells us about everything Kol says about you." 

Davina blinks. "Oh. Thanks?" 

Finn nods. "I have to get back to my wife and kids." 

"Okay. See you." Finn heads back down the hall, and Davina turns back to the photo. In the corner, it says the date it was taken, which happens to be the day before Lizzie's birthday. Davina suddenly realizes that must've been the day Caroline went into labor during a family day, and stifles a laugh. When she takes another look at Henrik, with a sudden jolt, she remembers where she's seen him before. 

Henrik was the one who hit Tim. 


	7. Chapter 7

The same scene plays in a loop in Davina's head for the next day and a half. Arguing, storming off, tires screeching, and then Davina's own scream. Blood, everywhere. All over Davina's hands and Tim's head and shirt, all over the red car and the driver inside, who is unconscious. Next thing she knows, she's sitting in the back of an ambulance cleaning off blood that isn't her own, and she's half-catatonic. Cami runs over, pulling her into a hug, and takes her home, where she forces her to sit down and eat something, _anything_. Then aunt Julia runs in, forcing Davina to wash out all the blood. 

All the noises. Davina remembers all the sounds that she couldn't comprehend, all the voices telling her to pick herself up, move on, and go continue living life. Cami telling her to go back to school, because it's senior year, and she needs to get her grades up, Julia telling her to just _please_ eat, her teachers calling in from school, all the sounds of life moving on while she isn't, and finally...the sound of Tim's voice on the phone. Then the sound of Davina's heart shattering as she decides to break up with him, and finally starts going back to school. 

Her grades go back up slowly, she gets into Columbia, and then next thing she knows, she's off the plane in New York with Cami, and she's running directly into Kol Mikaelson. 

And it all plays all over again. And again. And again. 

"Davina!" Blinking, the brunette turns at the sound of her name. "I've been talking to you for the past three minutes! Where the bloody hell is your mind at?" Rebekah holds up two magazines with wedding dress designs. "Which one do you like better?" 

"What? Oh, the one on the left," Davina says, reaching for another cup of coffee. 

Rebekah throws the magazine back onto the coffee table. "You just said no to this exact dress five minutes ago. If you're not taking this wedding seriously, then why even bother?" 

Davina sighs. "I'm sorry, Bex. I just didn't sleep really well last night." She slouches back in her seat on the rounded couch, shooting a _help me_ look over to Hope, who's holding back a laugh. 

"Honestly, Rebekah," Hayley says. "We're really not in a rush to get married. Besides, we should see what Elijah and Kol think about this." 

"No! You two are getting married, for God's sake. This is the biggest thing that's happened since Hope was born. And your weddings will be together, making it even better!" 

Hayley groans. "Listen, you and Marcel took a good year between getting engaged and married-" 

"That's just because we had to plan everything, and reporters had to interview and it had to be absolutely perfect. But since you guys have me, I know exactly how to do this twice as fast. Now, come along. We have some wedding and honeymoon destinations to figure out. So, Paris? Or Belize?" 

Davina takes a deep breath, calming herself. "This is going to take a while, isn't it?" Her head is still spinning, but she finds herself able to focus on the magazine and its bright colors. 

"Yup," Hayley sighs and leans back on the couch, throwing her legs onto the coffee table. "Hope, do you want to help?" 

"No, thank you." Hope skips out of the room, and Davina smiles. 

"Please answer the question, ladies. Where do you two want to go for your honeymoon, and your wedding venue? I know this fabulous place in Hawaii-" 

Davina's head begins spinning again. Oh, God, all the _noises_. "Rebekah-" Her head starts to literally throb. 

"Davina, you have an idea? Because I remember how gorgeous the black sand beach was when we took wedding pictures-" 

"Rebekah, I don't think Davina's looking really good right now-" Hayley interrupts, but she ends up talking completely over Rebekah, and they end up arguing over something. 

"AGH!" Davina finally stands up, her head throbbing. "I don't _care_ about this stupid wedding! Kol and I are just taking it slow for now, and Hayley and Elijah want to, too! Bex, I know you care, but WE DON'T!" 

Everyone freezes, and Davina realizes how quiet the house has become. Her head's still throbbing, hard. Hayley looks downright shocked, and Hope slowly peeks into the room warily. Rebekah looks downright hurt and offended, and Davina shrinks back. 

Kol runs out. "What the bloody hell?" 

Hayley looks at him. "Your fiancée snapped." 

"What?" Kol reaches out for Davina, but she blows him off. "Love, what's wrong?" 

"Nothing. I'm gonna get some fresh air. _Don't_ follow me." She storms past him to the back garden, breathing in the scent of the flowers around her. 

She lets herself cool off, though her head seems to start throbbing even more, with all the yelling she's done, and how much it just hurt to blow her boyfriend off. Pressing a few fingers to her forehead, she takes deep breaths as her other hand grips the railing nearby, the stones on her ring sparkling in the afternoon sunlight. Davina takes off her ring, admiring it for a second.

Then it's almost as if a spike shoots through her forehead, and the last thing she sees is her ring falling out of her grasp. 

Kol bites his lip, pacing as Davina heads outside. "What did you say to her, Bex?" 

"Nothing! I was asking her for opinions on the wedding, that's all, I swear, Kol!" Rebekah holds her hands up in surrender. 

"She seemed off today, though. And for most of yesterday. It's like something's on her mind." Hayley smiles. "I think we should go find her, right?" 

"She's mad at me. I always let her cool off before anything else happens. Based on personal experience, of course." Kol sighs. "But I think I should go get her. Or maybe Hope could go get her?" 

Hayley blinks. "Why Hope?" 

"Davina can't be mad at Hope." Kol smirks, and Hayley rolls her eyes. "Hope, darling!" 

Hope runs in. "Yes?" 

"Can you go find Davina for me, please?" 

"Okay." Hope runs off, and Rebekah sighs. 

"She's mad at me, isn't she? I've never seen her so angry." 

Hayley takes a sip of her coffee, crossing her legs. "I don't think I've ever seen her angry. This is bad." 

"Mom?" Hope walks into the room. "Davina's on the floor. I think she fainted." 

"WHAT?" Kol jumps up and runs out, finding Davina unconscious on the ground, with her hair sprawled out everywhere. A glint of something catches his eye, and Kol sees the ring on the ground. "No, come on, Davina, wake up." She doesn't, and he picks her up, as well as the ring, before carrying her back in. 

"Oh my God. What happened?" Hayley runs over, concerned.

"I haven't the slightest clue." Kol takes her upstairs, laying her down on their bed, and slips the ring back onto her finger. "Maybe it's just stress? You have been planning this wedding a little too much, Bekah. It's been two days." 

Rebekah sighs again. "Very well, then. I'll cool off on wedding plans for a while." 

"YES!" Hayley says, smiling. "I'll stay here with Davina for a while. I have a feeling she might be pissed at you too, Kol. Sorry." 

Kol nods. "Alright, then. I'll leave you two alone, then." He drags his sister out of the room, and they both head back downstairs. 

Davina opens her eyes right as they leave. "Are they gone yet?" 

Hayley jumps. "You heard us?" 

"I was conscious when I was picked up, but I just didn't want to see either of them." She sits up. "So wedding plans are off?" 

"Yeah. Hey, are you mad at Kol?" 

"Uh...just annoyed, I guess. It's complicated." 

Hayley sits next to Davina, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I know what you mean. Here, I'll get you some water. Just keep faking." 

"Okay." Davina lies back down, and Hayley heads downstairs. 

"She's pissed at me, isn't she?" Kol asks Rebekah. 

"She's pissed at both of us, Kol. I don't know what you did, but you better fix this bloody mess." The blonde stands up and heads to the kitchen. 

Hayley comes down. "I'm just going to get some water in case she wakes up." She pours a glass of water and heads back upstairs, leaving Kol alone with his thoughts. 

**

Two hours later, Kol decides to go upstairs and check on Davina. "You awake, love?" 

Davina looks up from her phone. "Oh, it's you." 

"Can I just ask what I did to make you so mad at me?" Kol sits on the bed. 

The brunette groans, putting down her phone and twirling her ring. "Nothing, it's just...this is a lot." 

"The wedding?" 

"The wedding, your mom, oh, and the fact that-" She lowers her voice. "We're not even engaged!" 

Kol looks down. "I know, I just thought that-" 

"You thought, but never asked for my opinion, Kol." Davina sighs. 

"I know, love. I'm sorry. Is that all?" 

"Well, I did just find out that Henrik was the one who hit Tim, and sent me into six months of depression. I don't blame you, but-" 

Kol gapes. "What?" 

Davina blushes. "Things have been a little crazy lately." 

"Davina, why didn't you tell me?" 

"Because you would've told me to calm down or just not think too much about it, Kol. That's actually your problem, really, not exactly caring about how others really feel." She crosses her arms. 

Davina's phone buzzes, but she doesn't check it. "What do you mean? When I ask you how you are, you say you're fine." 

"When girls say they're fine, they don't really mean it. That's literally boyfriend 101." 

"Davina-" 

"Just...leave. Please." Davina picks her phone back up, scrolling through it again. Kol sighs and leaves, closing the door behind him. 

Davina leans back in her spot in bed, and responds to a few texts when there's a knock at the door. "Kol, I told you to leave!" She yells, but it opens anyway. 

"Having a bit of a lovers' quarrel, aren't we?" Sage walks in, holding a mug. "Here, I thought you might need this." 

Blushing, Davina puts down her phone and accepts the drink. "Sorry. And thanks." She takes a sip of the tea. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" 

Davina doesn't want to, but she finds herself spilling about everything, including the fake relationship. Somehow, Sage is really easy to talk to. "And now here we are." 

Sage is silent. "Why did you two start this fake relationship, in the first place?"

"I don't know, I think it was for him to save face." 

"Why did you agree to this, then?" 

Davina blinks. "I liked him back then. I still do. Everyone liked him, honestly. I just thought that maybe if I helped him out, it would become something real." 

Sage smiles. "And it is. So why are you mad at him?" 

"He never takes anyone's feelings but his own into account, most of the time. I don't blame him, but it's just...irritating." 

"I know how you feel, Davina. But I think you two need to talk it out again. Maybe this time it'll go well." Sage stands up. "I enjoyed talking to you." 

"Me too. Thanks, Sage. And please don't tell anyone about the fake thing." Davina stands up as well. "All right, I think it's time for me to actually leave my room." She looks at the time, and realizes it's almost dinner. 

"Come on." Sage motions for Davina to come with her, and they walk down together. 

Kol looks up as he hears voices. Davina and Sage are walking down together, laughing like they've known each other forever. "When the bloody hell did that happen?" Klaus asks, bewildered. 

"Do you seriously think I have an answer, Nik?" Kol asks. 

Davina comes back down to talk to Kol. "Kol, can we talk?" 

"Alright." Kol and Davina leave the room, and Klaus turns to Sage. 

"What just happened? What did you say to her?" 

Sage shrugs. "I just listened." She turns and heads into the kitchen. 

Davina pulls Kol aside. "So, Sage and I talked, and-" 

"We're good now?" 

Davina blinks. "What makes you think we're good?" 

Kol lets go of her hand. "I thought we were okay now. You seemed a little out of it today." He looks at her ring, still resting on her finger. "Are you sure you're okay?" 

"What? You don't have anything to say about anything?" 

"Why would I have anything to say?" 

Davina groans. "Are you kidding me right now? You're the one I'm mad at!" 

"And I said sorry!" 

"No, you didn't. You only asked if we were good. And we're not, thanks for asking." She spins on her heel and walks away. 

Kol stands there, and Hope peeks into the room. "You're so screwed, Uncle Kol." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how many times did i say "bloody hell" this chapter oml


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHH IM SORRY THIS IS SO SHORT BUT LIKE WRITERS BLOCK IS STUPID IM SORRY

_Actually, you're always on my mind, actually, you might be what I need_

Kol groans and opens his eyes, finding the source of the catchy pop song Davina set as her ringtone a month ago. He searches around and sees her phone resting on the nightstand, and reaches over to get it.

_And I can't believe that I wasted all this time, 'cause maybe we're meant to be, actually_

He pauses in his reach, and lets the lyrics soak in, as the instrumental takes over, and replays the chorus on a loop again and again. Finally, he gets her phone and sees that it's just a random number, and declines the call. 

Her lock screen wallpaper, he sees then, is a picture of them he's never seen before. They're at the beach at Long Island, and Davina's wearing an off-the-shoulder striped crop top, jean shorts, and sandals. Her floppy hat is resting on top her flowing hair, and she's practically beaming. He's in the picture too, just in swim trunks. Davina's on his back, and the sun's captured the sparkle of the water and their smiles almost perfectly. Cami must've taken that picture and sent it to her. 

Once he places her phone back, Kol collapses back on the bed, as the events of the previous day sinks in. The sheets are cold on the other side of the bed, and Kol remembers how he tried to talk to her the night before. 

**the night before.**

Kol enters the bedroom, seeing Davina curled up in bed. He knows she's not asleep, though her eyes are shut. When she sleeps, her hand will slip under her pillow and hold her head, but it's just resting on top right now. "I know you're awake, love." 

Davina doesn't respond. 

Sighing, Kol sits on the bed. "Please, can we talk? I'm sorry, alright? I'm an idiot, I know." He slips into the covers, turning to face her. 

She still doesn't respond, but flips over as if she's listening. 

"Davina, I know what I did was wrong, okay? What can I do to make it up to you?" 

Finally, she responds. "That's for me to know, and you to figure out." Her hand slips under her pillow, and Kol knows he doesn't have much time left. 

"What if I told you that I love you?" He says, wholeheartedly. 

Davina lets out a laugh. "Three words don't make that much of a difference, Kol." 

"They'd make more of a difference if you said it back." Kol waits for Davina's response. 

She yanks the blanket to her side in return. 

**present day.**

Kol heads downstairs, and finds Davina on the couch, laughing along with Sage. 

He still doesn't know how that happened, but he heads over to Klaus. "Nik, you have to help me." 

Klaus turns to his half-brother, taking a sip of bourbon. "About you and Davina? Hope told me." 

"Yes. I tried to make it better last night, but she ignored me." 

"Kol, love is a tricky thing in the world. I can't give the right advice for you, but I do believe that you'll figure it out for yourself." 

Kol groans. "How did you and Caroline resolve your first fight?" 

Klaus raises an eyebrow, and simply points to Lizzie. 

"That would be a no." Kol leaves, leaving his half-brother laughing. 

He pulls Rebekah aside next, asking her for advice. "Davina's pissed." 

"No kidding, Kol. What the bloody hell did you do? I've never seen her this angry before." 

Kol sighs. "I maybe didn't apologize for forcing so many things upon her at once and not defending her wish of not getting married for another few years or so." 

Rebekah gapes. "How could you? She's your fiancée, for God's sake! I know I pissed her off too, but I made amends already. Now you better suck it up and fix your relationship with her!" She heads down the hall. 

Davina walks his way then, and Kol pulls her aside. "Can we please talk?" 

"Fine." Davina takes him outside, and turns to him, crossing her arms. "What? If you're going to-" 

"I wasn't lying last night, love. I love you. I have for years, Davina." 

Davina blinks, her breath catching in her throat. "Kol..." 

"And I am sorry, for everything. I know I didn't say it too sincerely last night, but I am. I've gotten Bex to put off the wedding already. What more do you want?" 

"I think we should tell everyone everything. The fake relationship, everything. We should be honest. Kol, it's been years. I've felt this weight on my chest over lying to them all these years. I love your family so much, and I hate lying to them. So I think we need to tell them the truth." She lets it all out in a breath. 

Kol looks down, then back into her eyes. "Alright." 

"If your mom still hates me by then, I'll either punch her or lock her up, too." 

"That's my girl." Kol smiles, and Davina kisses him, before pulling him into a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. 

"I love you too." She lets go, and puts her hand in his. "Let's spill now." 

"I'm not the only one who thought that make-up speech was very anticlimatic, right?" 

Davina laughs. "I was going to forgive you last night, but I thought I'd piss you off a little." 

They head inside, and everyone turns at the sight of them back together. "Davina and I have something to say." 

Everyone sits down, looking at them. Davina decides to start speaking. "There's something we need to tell you guys. We haven't been completely honest about us, you see. Uh, basically, when Bex came to visit three years ago, we weren't dating." 

There are murmurs throughout the room. "Yeah, I told Davina to go along with it just to save face, and we had no idea it would go this out of hand. All the calls you and Marcel have been overhearing, Bex, weren't about an engagement, but about getting together in the first place." 

"Wait, hold up." Rebekah stands up. "I'm supposed to believe you two weren't together when you--" She points to Kol. "--were shirtless the first time I saw you two, and Davina's things were all over your apartment?" 

Davina smiles nervously. "I was crashing at his place for a few weeks, and spilled coffee on him." 

Rebekah drops back in her seat. "There's no way. You two look at each other like you need them to live." 

Kol and Davina blush, and Hope looks up. "So you two aren't engaged?" 

"No, sweetheart. We're just dating. We played along. This ring was just a present for Davina I never got the nerve to give her. I'm sorry for lying, everyone. We're sorry." 

There's a silence for a little while, until Freya looks up. "So why did you two decide to keep it up? Why didn't you two ever break up?" 

"We couldn't bring ourselves to," Davina says, looking up at Kol before turning back to the family. 

"We also had a very massive unspoken mutual attraction at the time-" Kol begins, before Davina jabs him in the side. 

"So, we're really sorry for lying to you guys. I just couldn't hold it in anymore. So, in conclusion, we're not engaged, and we've only been dating for, like, three days." 

Caroline takes a deep breath and stands up. "Okay, so if we're all sharing secrets now, I'll go next." She smooths out her blouse, and turns to Klaus. "I'm pregnant." 

Klaus chokes on his bourbon, and Elijah pats his back until he's fine. "You're what?" 

"One month along now." Caroline plays with her necklace. "I'm sorry I kept this for so long, I was just kind of nervous." Klaus walks over to Caroline and swiftly kisses her, hugging her tight, along with Lizzie. 

Rebekah jumps up. "I can't believe this. I'm having another niece." 

"How does everyone know it's going to be a girl?" Caroline questions, as Freya and Keelin stand up as well. 

"Well, we're moving. To Australia, because we're going to be adopting a girl. She's three now, and her name's Maisie." 

"Another niece!" Rebekah exclaims, practically hyperventilating now. "Marcel, we should have a baby too." 

Marcel's jaw drops. "I thought you didn't want any-" 

"I've always wanted children. I just never said anything because I was scared the agency would get mad, but I don't bloody care. Always and forever. Family above all." Rebekah beams, and Esther slowly stands up. 

"Well, it seems that we've had a lot to say today, haven't we?" Everyone slowly settles down. "Caroline and Niklaus, congratulations on your second child. Freya and Keelin, congratulations as well. And Rebekah and Marcel, I'd love another grandchild. Now, as for Kol and Davina." She eyes them. "May I have a word with just you, Davina?" She stands up, and heads to the study, and Davina follows her reluctantly. 

"Esther, if there's something wrong-" 

Esther sits down on a small leather couch. "I always thought that you seemed a little different from the rest. Not wealthy, but almost too perfect as well. Now I know why." 

"Kol told me you didn't approve because I wasn't rich." Davina sits down across from her. 

"That was part of the reason. The other part was because there was something off about you, and I believe the revelation of your fake relationship has resolved that. But now I see that everything you did for him, everything you did for each other, was for a reason." 

Davina smiles. "And that reason was...?" 

Esther smiles back. "Because you two truly love each other. I never approved of Caroline until I saw how she looked at Niklaus, and the same with relatively every daughter and son in law I have." She sighs. "I'm sorry for doubting you, Davina. I see that you and Kol are brilliant for each other, and I think that you two make a lovely couple." 

"Thank you." 

"You're welcome, Davina. Now get back to him." Davina stands up and heads out, pulling Kol into a hug once she sees him. 

"She likes me now." 

Kol sighs. "Thank God." He faces her once she pulls away. "Now, how's a date sound?" 

Davina smiles widely. "Amazing." 

**the next day.**

"Kol, two minutes!" Davina calls, as he flushes the toilet. "Come on, everyone else is packed already!" 

He exits the bathroom, pulling on a simple hoodie. "Are you done?" 

"Yeah." She finishes putting on her mascara, and smiles at him. "We're going back home today." 

"Yes, we are. It's been a wild ride, hasn't it?" 

Davina smiles, putting away her makeup. "Yeah." She packs up her things, and they head out together, her hair down and bouncing. "You didn't forget anything, did you?" 

"Nope. Oh, that reminds me." Kol pulls out the ring from his pocket. Davina had given it back to him the night before, telling him that he should save it for when they're actually engaged, which launched into a whole conversation about marriage. "You should keep this." 

"No, this-" 

"I got it as a present for you, darling. You have to take it. You could just think of it as...a promise ring?" He slips it onto her finger, and Davina sighs reluctantly. 

"Fine." They load up their things in the car, and ride off to the airport. 

They finally land in New York about eight and a half hours later, and it's literally only 3pm in their time zone then. Cami and Josh run over to them, engulfing them in hugs. 

"How was it?" Cami asks. "You guys stopped calling two days ago." 

Davina smiles. "So much happened. Hayley and Elijah are engaged, Freya and Keelin are adopting again, Marcel and Bex are trying for a kid, and Caroline's pregnant again." 

"No way. Oh my God, I wish I was there." 

"Uh, not to sound annoyed or anything, but like, can we go? People are staring." Josh gestures to the people around them, and they all head to the car. "So, you two are dating now?" 

Kol puts an arm around Davina. "Yup." 

"You guys going to move in? I don't think I can stand cheesy FaceTiming every night," Cami says, getting into the front seat. 

"You want to, love? You practically live at my place." 

Davina smiles again. "Of course." She hugs him, and Cami gags. 

"You guys are so adorable and disgusting at the same time. So, what are your plans for life and whatnot?" 

Kol smirks. "Well, Davina, there is a question I'd love to ask, but I think we should save it for a while, no?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lyrics from davina's ringtone are from valerie broussard's "actually"


	9. epilogue

**two years later/2021.**

"Ready, love?" Kol asks, turning to Davina, who's adjusting her hair. 

"Yeah. God, we haven't seen them all in so long." 

Kol smiles. "You packed everything? Including your bridesmaid dress?" 

Davina nods. "With alterations." She rests her hand on her very pregnant belly, sighing. "I can't believe we're going to tell your family that I'm pregnant for the first time in seven months." 

"Well, they all hate surprises." He opens the door for her, and she gets in the front seat, as he gets into the back. 

Cami turns to them. "Ready? It's literally almost midnight, you two." They nod, and she drives them to the airport. 

They're almost at security when they give their goodbye hugs to her. "Bye, Cami." Davina smiles, hugging her best friend. "Have fun without us! And eat a lot of food on Thanksgiving." 

"Trust me, we've lived in San Francisco for a year and a half, and there's still so much we haven't done and eaten yet." She hugs Kol as well. "You guys have fun." She lets them go, and they head up through security. 

A year and a half ago, Davina and Kol moved to San Francisco after graduation to explore California, and Cami came along as well, with her new job. He proposed to her three months later, and now she can wear the ring for real, proudly showing it off to practically anyone trying to hit on her. 

They get through security and head to their gate, with Davina tiredly sitting down. "Kol, can you buy me some coffee, please?" 

Kol laughs, pressing a kiss onto her forehead. "Of course, love. I'll be right back." He heads to the nearby Starbucks, and Davina sighs, pulling her cardigan around her. 

The nearby older woman smiles at her. "Heading to London?" 

"Yeah, my fiancé's brother is getting married." Davina smiles. "I'm Davina." She holds out her hand, and the older lady shakes it. 

"Tara. So, how far along are you?" 

Davina puts her hand on top her of belly. "Seven months." 

Tara smiles. "Do you know the gender?" 

"Two girls." Davina laughs. "They're going to be a handful." 

"I had two girls too." Tara looks thoughtful. "Always switched places. They were identical, and they were always getting into trouble. Of course, they're all grown up now." 

Davina nods, and feels a kick. "Oh!" She rubs her belly. "They keep me awake at night, honestly." 

Tara laughs. "They will for a few years, Davina. So, do you have any family in London?" 

"No, just a whole bunch of future in-laws." She thinks about Caroline and Klaus's one year-old daughter, Maddie, and Rebekah and Marcel's six month-old daughter, Giselle. "There are a lot of them, honestly. The kids are all coming in." 

"That's nice. Do you have names for your twins?" 

Davina sighs. "Kol and I have been debating on names for so long. I think we're going with Emalyn and Kaia." 

"Those are beautiful names." Tara smiles, and Kol comes back with two cups of coffee. "This must be Kol." 

Davina smiles, accepting the bigger cup. "Yeah. Kol, this is Tara." 

Kol shakes Tara's outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you, Tara." He places a hand around Davina as she sips her coffee. "You visiting London as well?" 

"No, my son is flying in any minute now." Just then, people start pouring in, and she stands up. "Well, I'll be on my way. It was nice to meet you two." 

"Nice to meet you too, Tara." Davina smiles, and Tara leaves to find her son. "She was nice." 

Kol nods. "She was, wasn't she?" He sighs. "We're not going to be spending much alone time soon, are we?" 

"No, we're not. Better make the most of it before Em and Kaia are born." 

"Yes, we should." 

* * *

They land in London the next day, at about three in the afternoon over there, the day before the wedding. When they reach baggage claim, Freya is sitting on a bench, and stands up when she sees them, pulling Kol into a hug first, then Davina. 

"I've been waiting for so long! Keelin's with the kids right now, and...Davina?!" She pulls away once she feels Davina's pregnant belly in the way of the hug. "When? How long? Why-" 

Davina laughs. "Seven months. Meet your nieces." 

" _Nieces_? As in, more than one?!" Freya is smiling so wide, Davina's surprised her cheeks aren't splitting. "Twins?" 

"Yeah. If it was triplets I'd probably tell you guys." Freya pulls Davina into another hug. 

"Rebekah and Caroline are going to lose it. You didn't tell them yet, did you?" 

Davina shakes her head. "No, they've been way too busy to visit lately, with Maddie and Giselle." 

"I figured. How about Hayley?" 

"Wedding plans." 

"Oh." Kol comes back with the luggage, and plants a kiss on Davina's forehead. 

"Shall we get going now?" 

Freya nods. "Yeah, we don't have much time to rehearse before Hayley starts complaining again." She leads them to the chauffeur, who drives them to the Mikaelson compound. "They're actually going to be getting married half an hour away, but there's a wedding there today, so we're just going to figure it out here in our garden." 

They all get out, and Davina feels a rush of nostalgia over what happened two years ago. "It's been so long." 

"Two years only, love." Kol takes out their bags, and Freya leads them in. 

"Caroline and Klaus are still on their way with Lizzie and Maddie, and Hayley and Elijah are getting ready. Rebekah's outside in the garden with Marcel and Giselle, and Finn and Sage are coming tonight. Mother and Father are out right now, but they'll be back soon. Keelin and the kids are exploring town right now. You guys can go unpack and get dressed, I'll be back soon." She slips away, and Kol and Davina drop off their things outside, before changing quickly and heading outside. 

Kol instantly strikes up a conversation with Elijah, who's already waiting outside. Rebekah spots Davina and runs over, her burgundy mermaid dress clinging to her curves in a way that in no way proves that she just gave birth half a year ago. "Davina!" 

Davina heads over, hitching up her strapless dress. "Hey, Bex, Marcel." She smiles at the tiny baby in Marcel's arms, as well. "Hey there, Giselle." 

"Bloody hell. You're pregnant?!" Rebekah practically screams, leading Elijah to come over as well. The blonde puts her hand on the brunette's stomach, just in time for another kick. "And you didn't tell us?" 

Davina looks at Kol. "No kidding. They do hate surprises." She turns back to Rebekah. "Sorry, Bex." 

Rebekah is literally shaking. "Another niece?" 

"Two nieces, actually." Kol smiles wide, putting his hands around Davina's shoulders. "I think it's impossible to have a boy in this family, honestly." 

"Oh my God, I love you guys so much!" Rebekah hugs them tightly, and Hayley emerges, who is equally as excited for the twins. Hope is very ready to have another two cousins, as well, and they go through the preparations so fast it's almost as if they all knew what to do already. 

Before they know it, it's the day of the wedding, and everything flies by so fast: Klaus _crying_ , Rebekah crying, everyone crying, Em and Kaia kicking a little too much, and way too much champagne for anyone to handle. 

When Hayley throws the bouquet, of course everyone lets Davina catch it, and she rolls her eyes as it lands in her arms. "You guys." 

Caroline smiles. "You and Kol better get married before Hope does." 

Davina laughs. "Well, how does next summer sound?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to everyone who's stuck with me through the past month of my crazy kolvina phase: thank you so much for reading this!
> 
> xoxo


End file.
